Tuesday, 29 April 2008

A World Cup on home soil for South African Triathletes!

South African Elite Triathletes race ready for Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup
(Photo: Dr.Carol Austin)
The BG Triathlon World Cup Circuit comes to South Africa again this week and will take place on the 'tried and tested' Richards Bay course. In 2007 history was made when Hendrik De Villiers (RSA) became first South African male or female to win a World Cup event. Local fans will be hoping for the same again this year but the cream of theWorld Cup Crop will be here and the quality of field is way higher than in the two previous World Cups on the same course so we can only hope the local triathletes come with their 'A-game' and use the home ground to their advantage.

I know most of us are excited that we will all only have to fly 2 hours to get to the event instead of the usual 20 hours plus of energy sapping trans-continental travel.
Also lining up will be 11 past and present Team BG triathletes hoping to earn valuable Olympic points to help them onto the start line in Beijing.

Monday, 21 April 2008

Do Role Models Matter ? - Of course they Do!

Conrad Stoltz finishing at Xterra South Africa and coach Libby Burrell

Mari Rabie (current SA and African Triathlon Champion) wrote this in her blog after once again being inspried byher childhood hero - CONRAD STOLTZ (http://marirabie.com/)

I want to be able to do that...

It is not everyday that you get the opportunity to meet, never mind race against the hero that inspired you as a kid. I was in the fortunate position to do exactly that this weekend at the South African Xterra held in Eligin, Grabouw.

Conrad Stoltz............

I have memories of me as a little aspiring triathlete sitting at our dinner table staring at this lean, mean triathlete absolutely captivated by the stories he was telling of his racing in Europe. I must have been 10 years old. I can't exactly remember and Conrad was back from Europe (I think France?)and having dinner at our house. I always knew of some awesome South African triathlete racing somewhere else, but to finally meet him was a mayor wow. I was inspired...later that year I wrote down in my yearbook that mum made us fill in each year that I wantto be a Professional Triathlete when I grow up.I think that was the first time Conrad made me think "I want to be able to do that".

Another memory is of a 13 year old me sitting on our living room floor, at 2am during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It was the first time triathlon would feature in the Olympics and there was no chance in the World I would miss it, even thoughI had swim training the next morning at 5.15am. I remember the streets of Sydney looking absolutely packed. I kept asking my Mum during the men's swim "Where is Conrad?Where is Conrad?". A tough question to answer during a wetsuit swim. My question was soon answered on the bike though...Conrad and Oliver Marceau had a successful breakawayon the bike....IN THE OLYMPICS!!!!! My parents had invited most of the local triathlon crowd over and Conrad's break caused so much excitement in our house that we woke up my poor sister who was writing her final High School exams duringthat time.I remember thinking "One day I would like to be able to do that..."

I guess that even now (a good 8 years later and knowing Conrad a lot better)I still think "Wow" every time I see him and still follow his now extremely successful Xterra career closely...I was on a sailing holiday last year in the Seychelles while he was racing World Xterra champs and was bugging Libby every ten minutes to tell me what was going on in the race.My whole family was delighted when we heard he ran away from Oliver Marceau to take his third World Xterra title.

So I guess I had this same wow feeling on Saturday when I was doing the swim leg of the Xterra in Grabouw and realisingat the first bouy that this person next to me that I kept on hitting over the head, is actually Conrad.Oeps. So I decided to swim a little faster to get away. I exited the water 3rd, behind Heinrich Dahms and Dan Hugo. I headed to the VIP tent then, to have coffee and chill with Libby while we waited for the guys to come in from the bike leg. When we got the update from the halfway mark and realised Conrad was not in the Top 5, we knew something had happened...Conrad slit open his tyre on the one of the technical sections. I suppose most athletes would have done the "Just my luck/chuck my bike into the forest thing", but not Conrad. He fixed his puncture, held his head high and came into T2 more than 12 min off Dan Hugo who was leading the race.

The most amazing thing to me was Conrad's composure when he came up to the finish, he had a smile on his face, obviously disappointed, but not showing any glimpse of it what so ever.Once again I thought..."I want to be able to do that"

Respect Conrad and thanks for inspiring us, the "younger" ones.

From website of Mari Rabie http://marirabie.com/content/view/54/43/

Saturday, 12 April 2008

Tribute to Team BG Support Team - Part 2

Craig Redman (AUS) working with Team BG athletes on Mooloolaba Beach

Jamie Turner (AUS) giving surf tips toSvetlana Blazevic (SERBIA)

In part 2 of the blog paying tribute to Team BG Support Staff I recognise Craig Redman and Jamie Turner who as coaches and sport development contract staff always go the extra mile to serve the sport globally.
Thanks guys - you really make a difference to our programme!

Friday, 11 April 2008

A Tribute to Team BG Support Staff

Jeff Donaldson (Bike Mechanic) and Diana Palmer (Physio)
It is time to pay tribute to our superstar support team, Jeff and Diana, that work endlessly to see that 'bodies and machines' are in perfect condition for race day.
I get so many 'thank you' notes from the athletes post-event for the great support Team BG has on board so this post is my way of saying THANK YOU to you both.

Thursday, 10 April 2008

Fabulous two weeks for Team BG !

Javier Cuevas meets Javier Gomez in New Plymouth, NZ.


Team BG athletes post race in New Plymouth, NZ .

As our back to back TEAM BG trip down under came to a close we took time to celebrate a trip full of high points. After a stellar race day in Mooloolaba the team travelled to New Zealand and went even better!
Omar Tayara (SYRIA) got word that he was selected by IOC for the Tripartite slot to compete in Beijing; Lisa Norden (SWEDEN) went one better to take silver in New Plymouth and Javier Cuevas (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC) took the second bike prime in New Plymouth ahead of his highly favoured peers.

On a personal note I got to see my eldest sister, Wendy who lives in Brisbane, Australia. This was a real treat as we live miles apart now and only see each other every other year or so.

Tuesday, 01 April 2008

Lisa Norden (SWE) wins first World Cup medal for Team BG

Lisa Norden becomes first Team BG athlete to win a medal at a World Cup event.
Lisa Norden celebrated the one year anniversary of the Team BG - Elite Athlete Development Project by winning the bronze medal at the first World Cup of the 2008 season. Lisa paid tribute to the BG project by making mention of the fact that there are so many talented young athletes that could benefit from the same support she has had from ITU and BG this past year. The funding has allowed her to travel and train with her personal coach, Darren Smith (AUS) and the fruits of their labour have been justly rewarded. Lisa is an inspiration to her B G team mates who now believe that their dreams can come true with the necessary support and commitment.