Canadian Mislawchuk: Triathlons ‘Dark Horse’ at Tokyo
Tyler Mislawchuk may well be Triathlon Canada’s ‘dark horse’ ahead of this month’s Tokyo Olympics to manufacture a podium performance at the Games.
Mislawchuk will compete in his 2nd Olympic Games having been officially selected to represent Team Canada and will compete in the men’s triathlon event on July 26.
Fresh from an extended training block in Hawaii and victory in the last action of the Olympic Qualification period, accomplishing, a second successive World Triathlon Cup Huatulco gold to his name, Mislawchuk is now ready to rediscover his 2019 form.
And what form he was in, winning three major triathlons including his history-making performance in August 2019 in Tokyo. Mislawchuk became the first Canadian to win an Olympic test event in the 20-year history of triathlon as part of the Olympic program.
On the CJOB Sports Show Podcast, Mislawchuk said there are still some positives — at least from a psychological perspective — he can use to his advantage.
“It’s the exact same course, in the exact same conditions, with pretty much all the exact same athletes. You’re just two years further down the road and I’m probably a better athlete than I was two years ago.”
Mislawchuk is definitely on a mission and explains ‘I’ve trained so hard over the last 18 months,…training in Hawaii and I’ve not been home in 14 months, living out of a suitcase. I dedicate my life to this.”
In his Olympic debut at the Rio Games in 2016, Mislawchuk finished 15th in the men’s individual race, running with a stress fracture in his leg. This time round he will be injury free and setting his sights much higher.
Nevertheless, there is an extra ingredient to Mislawchuk armoury: his ability to race and win in the most intolerable of heat and humidity environments. Mislawchuk seems to enjoy racing in hot and humid conditions which will bode well for him in Tokyo where the heat will be the principal enemy for many of the athletes.
Tokyo temperatures in July and August, when the city will host the Games, regularly exceed 30 degrees Celsius with high humidity around 80 percent. Forecast predication suggest temperatures this summer could peak above 35C. The concern is so great that Triathlon events were rescheduled to earlier start times to combat the expected sweltering summer heat.
Mislawchuk won the 2019, Olympic test event in such weather conditions, so hot that the running segment of the Elite Womens Triathlon Olympic qualifier, held across the same course which will stage the event during the Tokyo Games, had to been halved by organisers to five kilometres due to fears over extreme heat.
And at the 2021 World Triathlon Cup Huatulco, Mexico the mercury was again pushing 30C in the air but Mislawchuk put in composed display that secured the win whilst his rivals were in the main struggling to cope with the extreme heat.
As he tunes-up for the Olympics, Mislawchuk will compete one more time before Tokyo at the Americas Triathlon Cup event set for Sunday, July 18 in Long Beach, California in temperatures mimicking those of Tokyo.
A ‘dark horse’ he may be but those who write of Mislawchuk making podium at the Olympics do so at their peril. He is a seasoned professional, ranked 8th in World Triathlons Olympic rankings, gaining momentum at the right time with a fresh game plan and will be looking to emulate Canada’s Simon Whitfield’s memorable gold in Triathlon’s Olympic debut at Sydney 2000.
Team Canada Triathletes at Tokyo will be made up of two returning Olympians in Tyler Mislawchuk and Amelie Kretz and two Olympic newcomers in Matt Sharpe and Joanna Brown.
