to Sydney and toured the course, they knew they had reached the big time when the course was closed and lined with media and fans – all for a training run. “It probably was the first moment that I realized that this is far greater than what I ever thought possible for triathlon as a small sport in this big, huge and significant venue of an Olympic Games,” Yount said. “We weren’t the small guy anymore.”
“It was like a dream. I actually did it, and I’m actually going to go to the Olympics.”
While the U.S. fell just short of the podium in Sydney, it boasted three of the top 13 finishers on the women’s side in Joanna Zeiger, Sheila Taormina and Jennifer Gutierrez, who placed fourth, sixth and 13th, respectively.
The Americans wouldn’t have to wait long to capture their first medal, as Williams overcame a crash on the first of six bike laps to earn bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.
When she accepted her medal, Williams was joined on the podium by her 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who was fittingly named Sydney after Williams learned she was pregnant prior to the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials and decided to put her dream on hold.
“To be able to share it with her and have her be a part of it was great, because she definitely had to have a lot of patience with her mommy when I was out training and racing,” said Williams, who viewed her daughter’s appearance on the podium as a symbol that she didn’t succeed on the world’s biggest stage on her own. “To have her represent all the other people that helped me be up there was kind of a cool thing to do.”
Williams claims she was more emotional when her childhood dream came true at an Athens qualifying race in Bellingham, Wash. “I don’t really cry in happiness very often, but I think I shed a few tears about it. It was definitely … the best feeling I’ve ever had after a race – ever – even after the Olympics again. It finally came true in Honolulu in April 2004, and a photo of Lindquist punching her ticket to Athens was used on a promotional poster for USA Triathlon’s “Haul to the Wall” series leading up to the 2008 Beijing Games.
That poster hangs in Lindquist’s Wyoming home and serves as a daily reminder of the emotions she felt when she became an Olympian. “That’s one of the only things I have up in my house that is triathlon related, and I see it every time I walk down the steps,” said Lindquist. “So I get to think about that; it was huge relief, huge joy, huge celebration all when I realized that it was going to happen.”
While the race-day experience of the Games and the qualification process itself are indeed memorable, the U.S. athletes and support staff also have experienced the pageantry of the Olympics first-hand.
Schnitzspahn and five of the six U.S. triathletes in Beijing walked in one of the Games’ most memorable opening ceremonies, and he thinks that experience will make the ceremonies a priority at future itself,” said Williams. “It was like a dream. I actually did it, and I’m actually going to go to the Olympics.” For Williams’ Athens teammate, Barb Lindquist, making the Olympics did not become a goal until she reached the pinnacle of U.S. swimming. She was a three-time finalist at the 1988 Olympic Trials but fell short of a spot in the Seoul Games. After becoming a professional triathlete in 1996, Lindquist’s Olympic dream was alive Games for USA Triathlon. “Just to be able to witness it from the other side – to see what impact that it does have on the athletes – I think was very important for the staff to keep in mind for the future of how much of a positive influence the opening ceremonies can be to get the athletes in right frame of mind to realize what they’re a part of and to inspire them to great performances,” Schnitzspahn said.
But the ceremonies are just the tip of the Olympic experience iceberg. Thanks to their exclusive access to other venues, athletes also get to be spectators. “To me it was great to see these other athletes – Americans – who were at the pinnacle of their sports compete, whether it was women’s basketball or men’s volleyball,” said Lindquist.
Schnitzspahn echoes that sentiment, “The athletes are fans as well so when they see their idols in other sports competing and training and preparing it promotes that kind of team atmosphere and fires them up for their race as well.”
To date the maximum number of U.S. triathletes have been able to enjoy the Olympic experience – a claim that no other nation can make. The U.S. is the only country to qualify the full complement of athletes – three men, three women – in each Olympic triathlon competition.
This fact speaks to the number of quality athletes in the American triathlon pipeline. “I think that definitely shows what we kind of know watching the Olympics – that the USA has amazing depth in just about any sport,” said Williams.
While this depth has only resulted on one Olympic medal to date – Williams’ 2004 bronze – reaching the Olympic Games and striving for the podium is undeniably the driving force for the top American triathletes.
“Some of them will do other races to augment their income or to help with sponsorships, but their main reason for getting up out of bed everyday and going to train is the Olympic Games …,” said Schnitzspahn. “They’re very proud to wear USA on their chest whether they’re competing in a duathlon or an Ironman or especially the Olympic Games.”
John Martin is the communications and media relations manager at USA Triathlon. Martin joined the USAT staff in January 2010 after working for six years as an assistant director of athletic communications at the University of North Carolina, his alma mater.
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