2) 6,453,682: population of Rio

3) 2: The highest number of Olympic tri medals won, held by Simon Whitfield and Bevan Docherty

4) 5th: The highest Olympic finish to date for a GB female (Helen Jenkins at London 2012 ) Will this change…?

5) 4: Number of paratri categories at Rio. PT1, PT2 and PT4 for men, PT2, PT4 and PT5 for the women.

6) Dec 11th: Date paratriathlon was officially added to the Rio Paralympic Games

7) 65%: Brit medal favourite Alison Patrick’s ITU win percentage in the PT5 category

8) 1 marriage between two Olympic gold medallists – 2008 champs Jan Frodeno and Emma Snowsill

9) 9th: Brit Simon Lessing’s position at the 2000 Games, after being favourite for gold

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10) 29:07Alistair Brownlee’s winning run split at the 2012 Olympic Games

11) 15cm: After 51.5km of racing, the winning margin of Nicola Spirig over Lisa Norden at London 2012

12) 1502 Date the Rio area was first encountered by Europeans

13) 38m: Height in metres of the Christ the Redeemer statue

14) $9.7 billion: Budget of the 2016 Olympic Games

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15) 4km: Length of Copacabana beach

Simply by visiting www.gotri.org/yourgotri, people can create their own triathlon, selecting a swim, cycle and run from options including a “trip to the pool”, “pedal in the park”, and “jog round the block”. Participants can also select to “row in the gym” instead of swim, if they’d rather not get wet, or don’t have a local pool.

Once participants have created their own triathlon, they’ll be supported with top tips from the experts at British Triathlon. You can also check out our beginner section on our website for lots of tips and advice.

Participants have the opportunity to Tri Something New and the chance to win triathlon starter packs provided by British Triathlon sponsors and suppliers.

Since London 2012, triathlon has enjoyed significant growth. The number of triathlon events increased by 63% from 2012 to 2016, with on average 24 events per week across Great Britain. Growth has also been seen across all demographics with 88% growth in Home Nation membership amongst women, and 169% growth amongst young people aged 16-18.

Jack Buckner, CEO of British Triathlon, says: “The aim of this campaign is to inspire new triathletes and break down any perceived barriers about the sport being too challenging, intimidating or expensive. Anyone who completes a swim, a bike and a run is a triathlete, and the goal is to encourage people to enter a triathlon event in 2017, giving themselves an achievable goal to work towards. Setting a goal is a great way of increasing commitment to regular activity.”

Get someone you know involved and tweet using #YourGOTRI.

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For more inspiration read pro Caroline Livesey’s piece on why she thinks everyone should have a go at triathlon 

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However, for triathletes the news isn’t all doom and gloom. The study, run by Duke Health, indicates that efforts to maintain physical abilities should start before the age of 50. This means that the hours spent training for triathlons in mid-life can go a long way in preserving the skills to keep mobile in later decades.

The research also found that a simple test can determine early weaknesses  that can then be addressed before they naturally begin to decline.  This will increase the chances of maintaining functions (and racing!) for longer.

“Our research reinforces a life-span approach to maintaining physical ability – don’t wait until you are 80 years old and cannot get out of a chair,” said lead author Katherine S. Hall, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Duke. “People often misinterpret ‘aging’ to mean ‘aged’, and that issues of functional independence aren’t important until later in life. This bias can exist among researchers and healthcare providers, too. The good news is, with proper attention and effort, the ability to function independently can often be preserved with regular exercise.”

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 The team studied a group of 775 adults, enrolled in the MURDOCK Study -Duke Health’s longitudinal clinical research study. Participants’ ages ranged from their 30s through to their 100s, with broad representation across sexes and races.

 Participants were asked to perform a set of simple tasks, which were used to demonstrate strength, endurance and balance. 

On average, men performed better than women on the tasks, and younger participants outperformed their older counterparts. Yet declines in physical ability were consistently shown to appear in the decade of the 50s, irrespective of gender or other demographic factors. Different abilities seemed to decline over slightly different time frames. Primarily, both sexes showed the start of the decline in their 50s, and this continued through the next decades. Changes in aerobic endurance and gait speed appeared more with participants in their 60s and 70s. 

The study also provided simple yet effective clinical benchmarks to measure physical ability, meaning any problems can be detected earlier.  

“Typically, functional tests are conducted on people in their 70s and 80s, and by then you’ve missed 40 years of opportunities to remedy problems,” said Miriam C. Morey, Ph.D., senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University School of Medicine.

 This news challenges previous assumptions, not only on when we should start thinking about physical abilities, but how we view their decline. While triathletes and other sportspeople are generally active, simple tasks can help highlight any areas of weakness that ideally should be addressed before they naturally begin to decline. 

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Ironman Boulder officials released the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of one of our athletes at Ironman Boulder. We are working with the Colorado State Patrol to gather all of the details regarding the incident that occurred on (U.S.) 36 just north of Broadway. Our condolences go out to the athlete’s family and friends, whom we will continue to support.”

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The incident is under investigation but State Patrol officials said alcohol and speed are not believed to be contributing factors.

Two main findings were seen between the groups. Primarily, the elite cyclists performed better in the cognitive task compared to the group of recreational cyclists, indicating that the professionals had better inhibitory control. Inhibitory control is one the factors that helps an individual carry out a goal-related behaviour, and is associated with will-power and concentration.

The second finding was more surprising.  The =non-professional cyclists’ performance worsened in the time trial after they completed the cognitive task, but the professional cyclists’ performance after the cognitive task was not significantly different. This suggests that the elite cyclists were more resistant to mental fatigue, and did not let it affect their cycling performance.

The authors concluded that these characteristics are psychobiological, and it is unclear whether they are genetic, acquired through training and lifestyle, or come from a combination of the two. This new finding could be used to shed light onto what gives some cyclists that ‘upper-edge’, and provide a new focus to improve personal performance. 

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 Read the full findings, which were published on PlosOne, here

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The major race brand have also confirmed the bike course for the new addition to the M-Dot event calendar, with the Cerne Abbas bike stretch pictured above.

Starting and finishing from transition in the heart of Weymouth, the bike course will showcase the best of Dorset across either a 112 mile (IRONMAN) two lap route or a 56 mile (70.3) single lap. This one or two lap anti-clockwise route promises to provide “speed, hills and beauty across rolling countryside and some charming villages.”

Comprising just over 1,880m of elevation over the 2 laps, the 2,500 athletes will relish the spectator support to spur them on as they make their way from Weymouth via Osmington and through the picturesque villages of Puddletown, Piddlehinton and Cerne Abbas.

Notable changes have seen the removal of some of the smaller roads to offer a safer route for the larger number of participants anticipated. There will also be a new loop north of Dorchester, replicating some of the original IRONMAN Sherborne course in 2006.

Full details including an interactive bike map are available IRONMAN Weymouth or IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth. And a promo video is here

WEYMOUTH ROUTES

Ahead of this new bike route, the Weymouth races will commence with a 2.4 mile (IRONMAN) or 1 lap 1.2 mile (70.3) swim in Weymouth Bay. This will be a rolling start swim, as is now implemented across all UK events, to reduce congestion. All athletes will exit the water after the first 1.2 mile lap, with Ironman athletes re-entering for a second lap. Once the athletes have completed the bike course, the race concludes with either a 26.2 mile (IRONMAN) or 13.1 mile (70.3) run, comprising a 2 or 4 lap course respectively.

This multi-lap run will take the athletes around the town, harbour and the sea front. Lined with over 40 cafes, restaurants and bars, it offers outstanding spectator viewing and makes for an electric atmosphere to spur the athletes along to the finish line right up to the 8.5 hours (70.3) or 17 hours cut off time.

The event will mark the first time both an Ironman and a 70.3 race are held on the same day in Europe. Ironman Weymouth will have 30 qualifying slots to the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

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Ironman 70.3 Weymouth will have 30 qualifying slots to the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Professional athletes will compete for a total prize purse of $15,000 USD with the race offering P-500 KPR points as well.

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Online entry and further information is available for IRONMAN Weymouth or IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth.

For a triathlete, understanding recovery is important as training involves intensive sessions in not one, but three different disciplines that make various different demands on the body. Sessions take their toll on mental and physical resources, but the regeneration that occurs after a session helps an athlete to become stronger and fitter. Most triathletes are aware they should timetable recovery into their training plans, yet despite its importance, recovery and rehabilitation hasn’t been viewed as an exact science – until now

Exercise science researcher professor Dr Alexander Ferrauti and sport psychologist professor Dr Michael Kellmann, in collaboration with researchers at Saarland University and the University of Mainz, have spent the past few years running a joint project trying to find the best recovery strategies for athletes after intensive training and competition sessions. The research was run to better understand the recovery process, and might help athletes and coaches choose effective strategies to optimise performance in the future.  

For part of the project, scientists wanted to look at recovery after a number of different activities – part of their sample included elite athletes in Olympic training camps. They created training blocks and exercise programmes for a range of top athletes, including weightlifters and volleyball teams. Using blood tests, questionnaires and performance assessments, they studied how certain sports affect the body – and specifically how the body recovers from different sport sessions. 

In another section of the research, the team looked at the effectiveness of different recovery methods after similar workout sessions. Active strategies, such as sport-specific stretches and cooling-down tasks were investigated, alongside other measures such as massages and ice baths. Interestingly, one result showed that while ice baths were linked to better performance tests, athletes reported feeling benefits from massages, which did not show this link. This highlights that biological markers should be taken into account alongside athletes’ subjective perceptions, as psychologically this can also influence the recovery process.

The results also reinforced that there is no ‘one size fits all’ for recovery, and that every athlete should choose recovery measures suited to their sport and also their personal preferences. However, as with training, recovery methods should be tried and tested long before competitions, and the body given time to acclimatise to new regimes.  

Once the project has ended in late 2016, the organisers hope it will lay the foundations for more research into regeneration management, ultimately to create a tool that is sport-specific and can be used to pick the best recovery measures and rehabilitation methods for each discipline.   

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What do you think? Is recovery ever going to be an exact science? Do you have tried and tested recovery methods that work for you? Let us know on Twitter, @220Triathlon 

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The race began with the 3.8km swim in  Lake Guggenberger See before racing through the surrounding beautiful Bavarian countryside and the historic city’s streets, which were filled with a party atmosphere.

 

#challengeregensburg #wechselzone2 #run

A photo posted by Challenge Regensburg (@challengeregensburg) on Aug 14, 2016 at 4:26am PDT

British eyes were firmly on Joe Skipper who was hoping to win here after a fantastic performance at Challenge Roth two weeks ago where he broke the British Iron-distance record.

Sadly though a recent bout of food poisoning meant he wasn’t at full strength and he exited the water eight minutes behind the leader Sebastian Veith.  From then Skipper never troubled the leaders and decided to retire on  the beginning of the run, saying he felt weak and decided to just enjoy the swim and bike.

The bike leg had a 1,500 metre elevation and took the athletes through the beautiful Bavarian Forest Nature Park, and by mid-day temperatures rose to 24°C.

 The first ascent began at 14km, where the athletes climbed to the highest point of the course at Brennberg. A fast descent and a long flat passage, which is only interrupted by a short climb at the southernmost point of the course, will allow athletes to speed up, before the course leads back towards Regensburg, before turning right at Donaustauf for the second bike lap which partly follows along the River Danube into Regensburg.

German Jan Rafael had a great T1 and started the bike leg in the lead, from then he never faulted. By the time he came to the run he had 13 minutes lead on fellow German Sebastian Neef and Chis Fischer from Denmark. However one KM into the run Fischer moved into second and started to gain on Rafael and at 36km mark was just 5 minutes behind but Rafael hung on for the victory, winning in 8:27:27 with Fischer taking 2nd in 08:31:30

The women’s race was won by fellow German Julia Viellehner, Julia in a time of 09:37:32, with Erika Csomor from Hungary in 2nd and Sylvia Felt, also from Germany in third.

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Katherin Walther from Germany led after the swim with fellow German Nicole Woysch, in second but after 60km on the bike Woysch took the lead until the run when Walther overtook her again.  However this was the end of the two athletes dominance on the race, as after 6km Csomor took the lead and by 16km Viellehner had moved up to second, and had Csomor in her sights. At 21.7km she finally overtook her, in the end winning by 07:32 from Csomor.

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Check out the results of Challenge Regensburg here

The fifth Olympic Games triathlon took place in Rio with Alistair Brownlee aiming to become the first athlete in history to defend his Olympic crown. But where tri great Simon Whitfield, Hamish Carter and Jan Frodeno had failed, Alistair made history on the Copacabana after breaking his brother Jonny halfway through the run.

Ali was followed in 31secs later by Jonny, who went one better than at London 2012 to take silver. Henri Schoeman of South Africa was third.

 HISTORY BECKONS

The non-wetsuit sea swim took place in water temperatures of 21C, with the heat outside rising swiftly from an overcast morning to 27C by 11am. The gun went and the fifth Olympic Games triathlon was a go, with the Brownlees,  Brit Gordon Benson and unofficial swim domestique Richard Varga taking the right hand side to utilise the right to left currents.

Unusually three distinct swim groups formed, but the plan worked for the Brits and they entered the first buoy in the lead and escaped the first buoy carnage that followed. The pack would string out during the course of the swim, with Varga and Schoeman

Slovakia’s Richard Varga led out the swim followed closely by South Africa’s Henri Schoeman and the Brownlees. Mario Mola was 19sescs down on Varga when he excited, crucially missing the front swim pack.

By lap two of the bike, the Brownlees lead pack of cyclists had increased their lead to 40 seconds over Mario Mola, a minute over Richard Murray. At the halfway stage the lead was 1:13mins, with the two lead chase packs forming.

The Brownlees were pushing the pace on the bike, with plenty of athletes tucking in behind much to the Yorkshire’s boys annoyance (Jonny was clearly heard from the grandstand giving France’s Vincent Luis a piece of his mind).  With the chase pack already over a minute in arrears, Mola and Murray would need to pull out huge performances to reach the podium.

A bike crash involving four athletes ended Gordon Benson’s hopes of finishing his debut Olympics, with the bell for the final lap showing little change in the gap from the lead to chase group.

The Brownlees entered T2 with the leaders, alongside Luis, with Schoeman and Aaron Royle not far behind. The brothers had broken free by the first of four run laps, with Schoeman looking strong for third and Luis dropping off the pace. That lead over Schoeman was 13secs by 5km, with the fight coming down to which Brownlee brother would take the title.

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That would be decided early on lap three as Ali made his move surprisingly early, ruthlessly leaving Jonny trailing by 15secs by the end of the third of four run laps. Alistair’s relentless pace saw him hit the finish at 1:45:01 (and this having strolled the finishing straight) with Jonny 6secs behind.

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