THE MEN
(her lack of race experience often has her playing catch-up out of T2) she is entirely capable of winning gold. While neither Huerta nor Kemper is
considered a major medal threat in London, given the unpredictability of the Games, and especially Olympic triathlon, it’s still possible that one of the men could surprise. “Anything can happen in sport,” said
Schmitz. “Whether that’s an injury, a crash, an illness or just not being there on the day.” Part of what makes triathlon so
Hunter Kemper
unpredictable compared to sports such as swimming and running is that the athletes participate on a dynamic playing field where one athlete’s performance can directly affect another’s, Schmitz said. The crash or tire puncture of a faceless Olympian can unexpectedly take out a favorite, whereas in track and swimming, athletes are left relatively alone in their individual lanes. That triathletes compete in three sports as opposed to one and have to make it through two transitions adds other variables. This is where the experience of Kemper, who
qualified for his fourth Olympics in San Diego, comes into play. Indeed, Kemper learned the hard way what the
Olympics can do to an athlete’s mental state of mind. In 2004 he was favored to win a medal but came away empty handed, largely because he took the
WHAT IT TAKES Susan Williams is the only American
triathlete in history to win an Olympic medal, a bronze, which she earned in Athens in 2004 despite crashing on the bike. Her prowess as a cyclist was her secret
weapon going into the event, as she wasn’t a favorite for a medal and was largely overlooked compared to American teammates Barb Lindquist, who is considered one of triathlon’s greatest ever, and Sheila Taormina, who was the reigning world champion heading into the race. But the bike course in Athens included
wicked hills, and after Williams qualified for the team, she started to believe that a medal was within the realm of possibilities. “I’d had success at races with hard bike
courses,” she said. “I thought, ‘It’s possible.’ You just never know because you don’t know how other people are going to perform. But I was very, very shocked that I did end up getting third.” Her bronze just goes to show that the
unexpected is always the expected when it comes to the Olympics.
process too seriously and didn’t allow himself to enjoy the Games, he said. This caused him to get overwhelmed by expectations. “In Athens I was real serious, and it
didn’t work out so well,” said Kemper, who finished ninth there. “I wasn’t really happy with that result.” When he qualified for Beijing in 2008,
Kemper decided to soak up everything the Olympics had to offer, and this resulted in the best finish of his career, seventh, despite suffering from a sports hernia going into the race. He plans on taking a similar approach to
London and hopes that this will help him pop off an effort that could potentially surprise his competitors. “It doesn’t always turn out like it should
Manuel Huerta
on paper,” Kemper said. “That’s why they have these races.”
While Huerta has been more inconsistent than
Kemper during his career, he has proven that he can race well when it really matters. Besides pulling off the best race of his life to get
on the Olympic team by beating athletes who were heavily favored over him, Huerta won silver at the Pan American Games last year despite learning he was supposed to race only days before the event. “The men are considered underdogs, but I almost
like that position,” Schmitz said. “We don’t have any pressure.”
Photos by: Rich Cruse/ITU, Janos Schmidt/ITU, Paul Phillips/Competitive Image
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