- This is the GTN Show, welcome.
Last week, we saw another world championship's event.
It was the XTERRA over in Maui,
so we'll be looking at the results from that.
As well as bring you race results
from other events around the world.
- On top of that, we have some world records
with a difference.
Drug testing in age group races,
as well as some news that could
put a stop to triathlon in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
(intense electronic music)
- Last week, we wanted to find out what you thought
was the most important title in triathlon.
And, admittedly, there are quite a few to choose from,
so we gave you the poll with those five options.
- [Mark] Well, in fifth place, it was
the ITU Long Distance triathlon world title.
Then in fourth, it was the XTERRA world title.
In third, it was the 70.3 world title.
And in second, it went to the ITU Short Distance.
And then in first place, with a whole of 64%,
it was the IRONMAN world title.
- [Heather] It looks like long distance wins
over the shorter but more intense ITU;
and, therefore, I think I got a little victory.
- I think you beat me out with that, yeah.
- Well, moving on, this week it's coming into off season,
or it might already be off season for you,
and we want to know what you're doing with it
and how long you take off,
if you take off any time at all?
- Yeah, so those options are: none,
one to two weeks, two to four weeks,
or four weeks and more.
- I'm definitely in the four weeks or more.
- Mine's been certainly a prolonged off season, right?
- Well, we'd love to know what you do
with that break as well,
so do make sure you leave your comments
in the section below.
And if you want to vote on the poll
just click on the link above my head.
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Now recently there have been
a couple of impressive, yet slightly different,
world records that have been broken.
Both of which I can't even imagine completing,
let alone being competitive at.
- Well, speak for yourself, Heather.
I think this one might suit me - The Beer Mile.
And you start it by downing a pint of beer,
and then completing four and a bit laps
of an athletics track, downing a pint every lap.
So you may wonder if this requires any athletic prowess,
but Corey Bellemore proved it does.
He did it in an astonishing time
of four minutes and 33 seconds to set a new world record.
- [Heather] That's impressive.
- Well, there is another record that is
very impressive and different,
but I'm not sure I could compete in this one.
- No, I'm not sure you could, Mark.
Jessica Bruce ran a three hour, 22 marathon
six months after giving birth.
But if that's not impressive enough,
she did it whilst pushing a double buggy
with her six month old
and her two year old son in the buggy.
And that was weighing about 30 kilos.
She's added this record to her previous record
of the single buggy marathon time as well.
- With European triathlon championships
taking place in Scotland next year,
it's just been announced that they're going
to be performing random drug tests
on the age group athletes.
Now this isn't the first time age group triathletes
have been subject to drugs testing,
but it is becoming more and more frequent.
- And some people still argue that it's not necessary
as age group athletes are amatures.
But it is, in a way, a compliment to the fact
that the standard is continually improving.
And therefore, there's a bit more
at stake with these races.
So some, I think, are prepared to bend the rules,
and sadly even break them, by taking
performance enhancing drugs.
And there have been some cases already proven,
so it's good to hear that they're starting
to clamp down on that.
- Well, it's not just that either.
There's also the issue of taking prohibited substances
without really having the knowledge of doing so.
It's something the pros have to worry about
but now the age group is too.
- Well, a couple of pros who did get caught were
Beth Gerdes and Lauren Barnett, who sadly faced a ban.
Now that was because they had a nutrition product
they were using that was contaminated.
But at the end of the day,
it does remind you that you're responsible
for whatever goes in your body.
- And just how easy it can be
- Yeah.
- But if you are competing in the European Champs
they're actually hosting a number of webinars
that you can tune into to find out this information,
as well as accessing information through
your national governing body,
and also the WADA and Global DRO websites.
- Women for Tri is part of the IRONMAN foundation
and was started back in 2015.
And now, they've just announced another round of funding.
This time it's going to 11 Women for Tri
triathlon clubs in the United States.
And that's going to bring the total
they've put in to more than $182,000.
- Well, these grants were set up
to support local triathlon clubs develop
activities and programmes that will increase
female participation in triathlon.
And the clubs can utilise these grants
to provide specific training for female triathletes,
and breaking these barriers to participation,
amongst other things.
- I think it's just a valuable thing myself.
I'm always trying to get more women
into triathlon and anything that can do that.
And hopefully we'll start to see this
spread across to the rest of the world.
- It's 1,000 days to Tokyo 2020
- Whoa, no it's not!
- Well, it's close enough.
It's about 995 days now,
but that doesn't have quite the same punch to it.
Well, Tokyo marked the occasion
by celebrating it with a countdown
and a demonstration of all the events.
- Well, the excitement is obviously building
for some more than others.
But there has been a slight worry
that they could have a repeat of the Rio Olympics
when there was this scare of the water quality
for the triathlon and the marathon swimming.
Now they had a survey that was looking
at the water quality, and it found
that the E. coli levels were 21 times higher
than the sports governing bodies would allow.
- Well, you'll be pleased to know
that it's all under control and it's improving.
They've pledged to keep the water clean and safe,
so it should be fine for 2020.
And I guess it's better to know now than late.
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Now it's time for Caption of the Week.
And last week, we had a photo of Javier Gomez
on the top spot of the podium
at the IRONMAN World Champs in Chattanooga,
drinking champagne out of his shoe.
And we had some great captions coming in.
So to kick things off, here's one from Kashyap Srisha.
They said, after a tough Ironman,
that is how you soothe your sole (soul)!
- Yeah, I do like that one.
But our favourite this week was sent in from ReadySetVideo.
It says, the best champagne showers come from the clouds.
Now, very observant.
Javier Gomez was using an ON running shoe,
and their motto is Running on the Clouds.
So we like that one.
And, ReadySetVideo, just send in your details.
You can get your free cap.
- And for the photo this week,
we have a photo from the finish line of IRONMAN Italy.
Where we've got Jens Petersen-Bach
talking and laughing with Andreas Dreitz.
I wish I knew what they were talking about.
- [Heather] Yeah, so do I.
And we would love to have your suggestions
so please leave your captions
in the comments section below.
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Well the big race last weekend
was the XTERRA World Championships in Maui.
And the favourite in the women's race was Flora Duffy.
She's won it three times before,
and she didn't disappoint.
She was in absolutely brilliant form.
She won each of the disciplines individually,
and ended up getting the title by almost nine minutes.
And finished 13th out of the men's field as well.
But then the battle ended up being
for second and third, and it was Barbara Riveros
who took the silver metal.
And Laura Phillip who found herself chasing
from the swim all the way through.
Finished just over a minute behind in third.
- Well, over in the men's race
it was actually Flora Duffy's training partner,
Bradley Weiss of South Africa, that
tasted his first victory in the World's.
Beating the favourite, and last year's winner,
Mauricio Mendez.
But it was Ruben Ruzafa that lead off the bike.
He was quickly passed by Weiss and then Mendez.
Mendez was a minute back on Weiss
coming into the finish, and then
Ruzafa, very close behind in third.
- Challenge Sardinia held their
half distance race last weekend.
There were quite a few athletes
making the most of that end of season fitness,
especially as this fell just two weeks
after IRONMAN Kona.
And on the women's side, it was Laura Siddall
who made the most of this.
Doubling up, and she actually finished
second at the challenge race.
Just behind Heather Wurtele who won it.
And in third place it was Marta Bernardi.
- While over on the men's side
it was the Spaniard, Vicente Hernandez,
that had an impressive performance to finish
four minutes clear of the strong Belgian, Bart Aernouts.
And then close behind, I think
they even may have had a sprint finish.
Just a few seconds behind we had
the American, Rodolphe Von Berg.
- IRONMAN 70.3 Austin had a strong showing
from ITU athletes, especially on their women's side.
It was won by Sarah True
in her first season at this distance.
And then Paula Findlay in her first race at 70.3
finished second.
With Jeanni Seymour in third.
- Well, over on the men's side,
it was won by former under 23 World Champion,
Franz Loeschke, and he was over a minute
clear of second.
And there was actually a sprint finish for second place,
but it was Jesper Svensson that took it.
And then in third it went to Justin Metzler.
- It was the Nepean Triathlon,
Australia's oldest triathlon event,
that attracted some top athletes last weekend.
On the women's side, it was won
for the third time by Ashleigh Gentle.
Gillian Backhouse was second,
and Natalie Van Coevorden in third.
- While over on the men's side it was won
by Aaron Royle and in second was Ryan Bailie,
and third was James Davy.
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Now for Comment of the Week,
and we had a load of great comments
coming in this week, particularly on our
Ask the Pros pre-race breakfast video.
If you haven't watched it already,
please do so because Andy Potts,
I mean, what can we say, he loves muffins.
Quite a few of you picked up on that.
And Alistar Wood said, Andy Potts knows the muffin man!
- [Heather] Another comment on this is from Surya Vanamali,
Muffin Man for the win.
- Yes, and we do have to apologise as well
for a slight spelling mistake on Holly Lawrence's name.
Quite a few of you picked up on it.
And we can tell you that we have dealt
with the editor personally,
and they will not be making that mistake again.
- Muffins!
Yeah, I'm a muffin man, Fisher.
(electronic music)
- Now it's time for GTN Pain Cave.
And to kick things off, William Hadlow
sent one in over Facebook.
And quite impressively, he's got a fridge
all stocked up, ready beside his bike.
- [Heather] You know what's more impressive, Mark?
Whilst on his bike, he's watching you.
- [Mark] What can I say?
Very impressive also, I like the wooden trunk there.
Very nice!
Okay, moving on.
And here's one from Christian Raubenheimer.
And this is from his pain balcony in Frankfurt.
- [Heather] I love this, Rauben.
I love the effort you've gone to,
but the stepladder, then you found
an upturned bucket, rested the I-pod on top of that,
and then your watch on top of the ladder.
It's definitely a lot of effort going on into it.
- Yeah, and a really classic spin bike there.
And finally one from Nicki Wilson,
sent in over Facebook message.
And this is very smart.
What do you think, Heather?
- [Heather] Well, she's very proud of all the race.
I mean, that's a lot of medals, Nicki.
- [Mark] Very proud that she's just finished a race,
because she's still got her number on her bike.
And a very smart wheel for a turbo, may I say.
And please keep your pain cave photos coming in
using the #GTNPAINCAVE over Twitter
or send them in over Facebook.
- That's it for the GTN show,
and please remember to send in your captions
in the comments below.
- And if you've enjoyed this video,
give it a thumbs up like.
And to subscribe to GTN, just click on the globe.
And if you want to watch a video
on winter training tips just click down here.
- And to see our Ask the Pros pre-race breakfast video,
just click down here.