Olympic Triathlon: When Definitely means Probably
Going into the Tokyo Olympic Games, Team GB triathlete Jonathan Brownlee believed these Games would definitely be his last. Nevertheless, this doxastic voluntarism means that Brownlee is the author of his own belief and as such can change the script from definitely to probably.
Brownlee’s incredible performance in the mixed team relay has given him something to think about. Reflecting on the future direction of his sporting career following his stunning performance in the Team GB gold medal victory, he told PA news agency “Has winning this changed my mind slightly? Definitely. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t, … So, I’ve gone from definitely to probably.”
The Brit who claimed a bronze medal from London 2012 and a silver from Rio 2016, only needed one thing from Tokyo 2020 to complete his collection: gold.
It was an emotional triumph for 31-year-old, who claimed a bronze medal from London 2012 and a silver from Rio 2016, and only needed one thing from Tokyo 2020 to complete his collection: gold.
Brownlee’s medal set was complete after he delivered a superb second leg in the inaugural triathlon mixed relay which saw the four-person GB team race to victory to take the gold.
Brownlee’s mindset prior to the Games was to give everything he possibly could, both mentally and physically, in his training and in his Olympic races, before calling it a day on Olympic distance racing and moving across to long-distance triathlon.
However, Brownlee is now having second thoughts and is not ruling out competing in the triathlon at the Paris Olympic Games 2024. Then there is also the lure next year of the Birmingham Commonweath Games 2022.
Speaking about his Tokyo race in the team relay Brownlee said that when he crossed the finish line and looked at his splits in a short, fast race that shouldn’t really suit him, he just thought ‘wow!’. I got the fastest split of the day.”
“And then you start thinking ‘what if?”
Whilst all the media focus is on Brownlee’s part in the GB Team Relay victory very little is written on his bid for a medal in the individual men’s event, other than the odd snippet that he had to settle for fifth which is an understatement if there ever was one.
In the individual men’s event only 7 athletes hit under the time of 1:45:00 and Brownlee was one of them. With a time of 01:45:53 Brownlee was only a little under 50 seconds behind the eventual winner Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway and only 20 seconds away from a podium bronze.
Reverse the placings and behind him were 3 x World Champion Mario Mola (ESP), current World Champion and hotly tipped favourite for the gold Frenchman Vincent Luis as well as the powerhouse nation triathletes of USA and Australia together with numerous other world class triathletes.
HIs individual performance together with his relay achievement will undoubtably have given Brownlee a massive confidence boost that he could be on the Paris Games 2024 start line as a genuine medal contender.
For an Olympian like Jonny Brownlee, the challenge comes when he realises his alternative sporting career choice after the Tokyo Games might not have quite as much meaning. Training and then being in something like the Olympics is uniquely rewarding, and you can’t exactly get that same uniqueness in a long-distance triathlon competition.
There is no question that Brownlee can be a medal contender at Paris Olympics 2024 if he willing to commit fully to the two-year process and be prepared to qualify the year before in 2023.
We may get an indication of his intentions in November of this year if we see him on the start line in Abu Dhabi for the World Triathlon Champions Series race which also forms part of British Triathlons selection process for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.
Maybe there is wisdom to share in the life lessons of A.A. Milnes, Winnie-the-Pooh, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”
