Is it still realistic to train for an olympic triathlon at age 18? ?
giftofthetrees asked:
I used to play football so I am in pretty good shape. I am more athletic then bulky.
… to begin training…
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4 Responses to “Is it still realistic to train for an olympic triathlon at age 18? ?”
The age thing doesn’t matter. There is no Olympic triathlon however. The Olympic event is called the decathlon, with ten events ranging from strength events to endurance and skill events. A triathlon is a swimming, bike, and running event, the best known being the ironman triathlon in Hawaii every year. That one is a three mile swim, a 75 mile bike ride, and a marathon run. Shorter triathlons do exist and are being organized all the time..
18 is probably a good age.
Providing you can run, swim and cycle well, and are not new to any of the Sports, It is a good age to train!
Good luck!
third answer is incorrect, there is an olympic triathlon. Decathlon and heptathlon are athletics events, modern pentathlon has been there since the beginning, the winter olympics has a biathlon… and they’ve added triathlon too, swimming, biking, running. I watched in in Beijing.
Olympic triathlon is at the moderate distance that most pro triathlons are at. It’s not a 9-hour mega-endurance-event like the Iron Man in Hawaii is. But it is still definitely an aerobic fitness event, roughly equivalent to a half marathon. If the football you used to play is soccer football, that would be better than American or Australian football for a starting point.
Within 2 or 3 years, if you train properly and get into racing and do well, you could get to the level of maybe being able to compete for your country’s olympic team. They will probably have a trials race where you have to finish in the top 3, or win if you don’t make the “A” standard.
Training is much like training for distance in any of its individual events, and is focused on mileage mileage mileage. Look for a triathlete’s club or association in your area for specific advice about a training plan. You’ll have to do dozens of miles a week of running, several of swimming and hundreds of biking, for a solid training base.
To get to international competing level you will have to find some open races where you can compete with others at your level and get some races under your belt, then look towards moving up to the next level.
It’s possible you could be in “A” level form by the next Olympics, so if it’s worth the time, effort and money, you could try it. You should know though that in triathlon the Olympics is not considered the great prize event, compared to world championship or Iron Man. Iron Man is still the big one and is a whole nuther ball of wax compared to shorter triathlons.
Yes. If I were you, I would do a few sprint triathlon first. A lot of your performance is just a matter of experience and football is very different from triathlons. If I were you, I would join a triathlon training group, do a few sprint distance triathlons and then, when you feel, that you are ready, sign up for an olympic.