Sloveig Lovseth is the new Ironman World Champion. She put on an incredible race in Kona, a model of being patient, sticking to the plan, and not getting dragged into someone else's battle. But, did you know that she almost never made it to triathlon?
It just so happens that Mikael Eriksson interviewed her last July for his podcast, That Triathlon Show (EP#466). He always asks guests to introduce themselves with a little background, like how they got started in triathlon. Her story was both typical and surprising. It made me question how she ever made it to the pinnacle of the sport.
As a child, she took swimming lessons, like many kids do, myself included. She liked it, and kept going, swimming with a team. She said she was fine until thirteen or fourteen, when things rapidly got more serious and competitive. She knew she was slow but trained hard, determined to succeed.
I don't know the details. Maybe there was a limited number of places in the squad. Maybe the pool could only offer a few lanes to this squad. The thing I want to point out is that she was dedicated, and hard working.
One day, she said, her coach told she should try another sport. He knew she could run, so he suggested triathlon.
That was it. Out the door. Good luck.
This young athlete knew nothing about triathlon. She had no idea where to begin. Many young athletes in that situation would just give up. She asked around and eventually found the national team.
At the time, triathlon was so new in Norway that anyone willing to train could join the team. She was accepted and supported. She made the Olympic team and went to Paris, although she had a bad race, in part due to all the confusion surrounding the water quality.
After Paris she decided to give long course a try. That meant leaving the national team, but she was still welcome there. At Hamburg, she had the fastest Ironman debut in history and qualified for Kona, which she also won.
My point is, a coach should always act in the best interests of their athletes. In this case, Sloveig's swim coach should have done the contact work ahead of time, so that instead of suggesting she try triathlon and pushing her out the door, he could hand her a point of contact he had already spoken with about her. No doubt Norway is thrilled to have another endurance champion. Think how close they came to not having this one.
Photo: Solveig Løvseth is flanked by Kat Matthews and Laura Philipp on the podium at Kona. [Photo credit: IRONMAN and tri247]