There have been great sprints to the finish in the history of triathlon. One of the greatest was for second place at the 1991 ITU World Championship – Mike Pigg and Rick Wells duking it out to the last breath on Australia’s Gold Coast. Another was the Ken Glah Pauli-Kiuru dash to the tape for the win at the 1990 Ironman New Zealand. The ITU circuit has seemingly taken over this specialty. The 2003 Athens World Cup was awesome in which Rasmus Henning of Denmark topped Cedric Fleureton of France by 1/100th of a second. The 2000 Olympic come-from-behind wins by Simon Whitfield and Brigitte McMahon were dramatic, too, although the ultimate margins did not quite require a photo finish. The 2008 Beijing Olympic men’s triathlon was outstanding in which four great men dueled to the final 400 meters, then Simon Whitfield broke first, but longshot Jan Frodeno surged later and better to take the win. This year, Bevan Docherty’s razor thin margin over Brad Kahlefeldt at the finish of at Round One of the Dextro Energy Triathlon World Championship series in Tongyeong, South Korea was also incredible.
But the recent duel to the finish for the men’s $200,000 top prize at the Hy-Vee Triathlon definitely has a place in arguments for the best finish ever. With just 500 meters to go, six men, all great runners, were in a tight pack and in contention for the win. With 300 meters to go, the two main protagonists in the Olympic sprint, Gold medalist Jan Frodeno of Germany and silver medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada, were mixing it up with two other great elite runners, Kiwi Kris Gemmell and Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt, for the biggest prize in the sport.
When the race was over, Simon Whitfield played his hand as he had at Beijing, breaking away with a burst of his old speed. Just like in Beijing, Jan Frodeno counterpunched hard. The only difference was that Whitfield made his move in Beijing with 500 meters to go and in Iowa he made it with 250 meters left.
The other difference is that there were four men in contact in the last few meters, and the wildly wind-milling attackers had to go through a needle’s eye as the run course narrowed sharply in the last few yards leading into the finish line carpet.
Here’s an oral history look inside the eye of the competitive hurricane by some of the leading men:
YOU DON’T HAVE TO FEEL GOOD TO HAVE A GREAT RACE
Simon Whitfield : When I said I’d do well before DC, that was a little gamesmanship. I did not feel good the whole week before. Still, in many races I’ve not felt well and did fine. I rely on what I’ve done in training and not how I felt in the days before the race. In Washington DC I was not able to do that. I never felt good. But you have those days. It is what it is. So I regrouped before Des Moines. I just tried to find some sharpness again. But I made sure not to panic and overdo training in those few days. I figured that by now I knew how to forget it. When I got to Des Moines, again I did not feel great. I don’t know what’s going on. I just did not have much zip for a few weeks. Maybe for a lack of sleep. With my family, sweet as they are, there are moments when you have to get up at 3 AM and it does seem so sweet. So I ignored all that and toed the line.
FRODENO’S SWIM WAS OFF THE WEEK BEFORE
Jan Frodeno: After the Olympics, I did not enjoy swimming. I did not enjoy sets at the pool. So I just didn’t do it. It was a time to take liberties. So in Washington, obviously my swim was a weak factor in losing 2 minutes to the lead pack. I was only 10 second back, but we never worked well on the bike. Of the three disciplines, my run was the in the best shape and I ran (race-best) 30:26. The week before I ran hard and got really close and made up a lot of a big deficit.
HY-VEE IS ONE OF TRIATHLON'S MAJORS
Jan: Washington DC was a great step forward for triathlon, competing in front of the US Capitol and all the memorials. But I agree this race, with its huge prize purse, stands on its own for different reasons. Like the Masters in golf. Many races are in the middle of nowhere, but the crowd in Des Moines makes it such a great event. The whole town puts its heart into it. The grandstands they built are amazing to see. I am almost sorry I missed it (focusing on the Olympics) the past two years. This race deserves to have that elite, standalone status.
GOOD DECISION ON THE SWIM START PONTOON
Simon: I made good decision about the pontoon. I picked a spot on the left while almost everyone was on the right. But I saw Frodeno and Courtney Atkinson on the left and went with them. It was the right crowd with no crowding. Certainly Courtney can really swim and I stuck with him. As a result, there was no water polo to the first buoy. It was absolutely great. I came out in 10th or 11th. I had a good swim, got draft effect and remained in the thick of it although I did not feel great.
THE BIKE
Simon: I proceeded to spend time in the lead pack which grew in size because the pace of the leaders was on and off. So the chase groups caught up by riding at a steady pace while we were jockeying back and forth.
Jan: I tried to break with Matt Reed twice, but it didn’t work. Matty tried again and again and finally rode away. He can run well on a good day with the best of us. But this day Matty spent too much energy trying to break away. Still, it was not a mistake on his part. I know you have to take a risk to win a big race like this. I finally let Matty go, because I felt if you try to chase down every break for 40k, chances are good you’ve blown yourself. That was my speculation and it turned out I was right. From previous races I know Matt would be dangerous, but he had used up all his energy. When I saw him ride at the front, he was doing most of the work. Stuart Hayes was up there too, but it was Matty who put his heart out there for almost all the 40k. So the chances were good the winner would come from our group of six – after Courtney Atkinson faded, Whitfield, Kahlefeldt, Frodeno, Gemmell, Shoemaker, and Gomez.
Simon: I spent time at the back and the front. I’m a pretty good bike handler by now, or at least I’m getting better. It was not a strength before, but I am more confident now, I found myself out front chasing and then at the back navigating back up to the front. That’s just how the pack rolls. But nearing T2, just as in a criterium-style racing, guys figure out how to position themselves up near the front at a critical point. I was probably 4th or 5th or 6th or 7th starting the run.
$200,000 HY-VEE FIRST PRIZE LED TO A CAUTIOUS EARLY PACE
Jan: Well, when $200,000 is at stake, people are a little less willing to take risks. Normally I am always willing to put it out there, but a prize like this makes me hold back just a little bit. This caution held true for the first 9K of the run. It was like an Olympic 1500 meter final, holding back and waiting for the final sprint. Which was fine with me. I had a good confidence for that.
FRODENO FEARED GEMMELL, WHO PREPARED ESPECIALLY FOR HY-VEE
Jan: The biggest unknown factor in group was Kris Gemmell. He came from altitude and prepared himself specifically for the race. I have to hand it to him. He gave it a great shot. But he made a tactical error. In my eyes he should have gone earlier. He should have just kept the pace up and dropped us all earlier.
FRODENO LET GOMEZ GO EARLY, KNEW SPANIARD WAS OFF FORM
Jan: I suspected Javier would go earlier. To be honest, he tried to go at 5k. It has to be said that injuries are never an excuse. But we all know how good he is. He had trouble all winter and it’s taken longer than usual working up his run. So his speed is not yet quite not quite what it will be.
WHITFIELD FELL BACK 4X, WAS ALMOST DROPPED, LIKE BEIJING
Simon: In mid-season, I’m not as fit as I could be. So I got a little lucky in how the race unfolded. There were a lot of great runners and sprinters in that pack. But in fact, no one decided to make a distinctive play for the win early. No one.
Jan: In fact, Simon was dropped maybe four times during the run. He is just a real fighter. He gets himself back. In this case we let him back into the pack. On every lap we ran a little slower. If we had made a long surge instead of a short sprint.
Simon: I started the run in back of the lead pack. In fact, they established a hard pace right away and I fell in 10 meters back and actually faded a bit. That was not tactical, I just was not able to keep contact. They were running a little too fast for me. That was a little echo of how the Olympics played out. Just as at the Olympics, I knew what pace I could run. It did not matter if I wanted to, I could not sustain that pace from time to time, so it was all about managing output at those points. Each time I dropped off, I slowly but surely caught up before getting dropped again. By the last lap, with 300 meters to go, I finally got on for good.
Jan: But everyone, I think especially Kris (Gemmell), had a fight on his hands to simply match the pace. Thinking back, there were a lot of things that we might have done that could have produced a different result.
GOMEZ AND SHOEMAKER WERE THE FIRST TO DROP BACK
Simon: Gomez made his play about 5k, but he is not his strongest self right now. I understood why Gomez would try to go at 5k or 6k. But it is hard to get away in a group where everyone had the highest pedigree as runners. I believe you think you are going as fast as you possibly could and that was what was playing on their minds there. No one has been in a position before with so many good sprinters together.
Jarrod Shoemaker was up there and maybe just a little more cautious than he might be in the future. Jarrod’s season so far has been remarkable. I am really happy for him.
FRODENO FEELS HE BELONGS AMONG TRI'S BEST RUNNERS
Jan: I felt it was my best bet to wait for the final 300-400 meters. I think of myself as one of the best in our sport. I think if you put Kris Gemmell, Simon Whitfield, Brad Kahlefeldt and myself in a 100-meter dash, we would finish in a dead heat. The only thing that makes a difference is how you go through the corners. They made a narrow finish chute and it went through my mind watching controlling it felt like a long sprint would be in my favor. The difference would not be more than half a second.
Simon: Gemmell is at that level – the only other guys who are at his level as sprinters are arguably Kahlefeldt, Bevan and Reto Hug.
Brad Kahlefeldt (from his website): The pace felt solid but I felt quite good. There were a number of corners, U-turn each lap that we had to deal with, so it was a bit up and down. Everyone was looking at each other on that last lap.
300 METERS TO GO – THE WAR STARTS
Simon: There was no break until 300 meters to go. All six of us were together along the whole backstretch. With 1k to go everyone slowed down and the pace was pretty pedestrian until 300 meters. Then the fuse was lit.
GEMMELL MAKES THE FIRST MOVE
Simon: Coming out of the 180 degree turn, Gemmell took over the lead and I followed him and got myself into second. Then we went through a chicane – right, right and a left and Gemmell stayed at front. He kept the pace strong enough so that nobody could re-pass. That worked for me. No one could pass me for second.
WHITFIELD MAKES A SURGE
Simon: When Shoemaker and Javier dropped, we were left with four. Then Gemmell drifted wide right, Kahlefeldt drifted bit out to the right with him, and Frodo stayed with me on the left. And that’s where I decided to take off. I was just damned if I get outsprinted again. I quite literally thought there was no ******* way I get outsprinted again. We separated with 100 meters.
FRODENO SAYS WHITFIELD TOOK THE BEST LINE
Jan: In a flat 100 meters we would all be dead heat. But Simon’s choice of line coming into the finish was ideal. He took the exact shortest way through a right, right left turn combination to get into that blue carpet in the transition. That last left hand corner led directly into the finishing chute, which narrowed coming into the carpet. Simon surged ahead just in time to take the dead straight line from second last corner to the blue carpet.
Jan: Simon made a burst to accelerate. The second to last corner was an almost 90 degree turn. What Simon has is quick speed to pick it up. Then we bridged back on to him. We certainly got up to him again. If you look at the video I skipped a step, I chopped my step to get in behind him. Otherwise I would have run straight into the fence or into the path of the other contenders. Then Kahlefeldt got in my way towards the end. He was leaning forward the last 5 meters before the tape, and he faded off to the left. In a bizarre coincidence in the final meters you can see it – he slides across the finish line toward the fence and into me. He started to my right and ended up to my left.
SIMON SENSED KAHLEFELDT AND FRODENO COUNTER ATTACK
Simon: After that first surge, I just stayed on the gas. I could sense them come up again. Frodo was on my left and Brad on the right. So I just kept pushing the pace so they would not race ahead and take my line to the tape. They came back a little bit and I got them again. I kinda surged twice.
THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE
Simon: When we came to the barrier, Frodo ran out of room. I held a straight line and he had to pass me to get in front or move to avoid the barrier. Brad is very hard to beat in a sprint and I think he got tangled up a bit with Gemmell and lost a little momentum. And at the end, he got tangled with Frodeno.
SOME PERSPECTIVE
With four great runners coming into the finish of the richest race in the sport, passing through a narrowing carpet, there’s a big chance there will be some bumping and zig-zagging. In the Olympics, elbows and tripping and heartbreak are all part of the game. Just remember heavily favored Jim Ryun tripping and failing to make the 1972 1500-meter final, Mary Slaney tripping on Zola Budd’s bare feet in 1984, and Hicham El Guerrouj’s trip and disastrous fall in the 1996 1500-meter final. In the Hy-Vee finale, the referees did not call any foul in the chaotic run to the finish
FRODENO’S ONLY DISAPPOINTMENT WAS A PERCEIVED BLOCK
Jan: In a sprint you should hold your line. Simon did it perfectly well. He came to the gate where it is very narrow and held his line in an absolutely professional way, the way it should be done. That’s what you do. Simon did exactly what I tried to do. But the other guy (Kahlefeldt) blocked me. He got in my space. In my mind, when you approach the finish line you try to do it in a fair running manner. It is not a swim start. You can really see in the video. I’m just trying to cross the line without being tackled like a rugby player. If you look at the photo, 10 meters before the finish Kahlefeldt is on the right side of Simon. I am on the left of Simon. At the end, Kahlefeldt is to my left. No one knows really how it would have turned out had he held his line. But I think a race should be held so that we all get a fair chance to finish. It was blocking like in NASCAR. But in running and triathlon, in my perspective, that’s not how I run.
Simon: Looking at the video now, Brad clearly cuts off Frodeno. CHUCKLES. Would I do the same? I think he should hold his line. But in the moment, you do go a little crazy.
Brad Kahlefeldt: I looked at the finish video for the first time after Frodo’s comment. Looking into the final meters coming into the finish chute, Simon ran a straight line. If you have a close look, Jan actually ran into me as he went too close to the fence, then I finally got my footing and went for it to try to catch Simon after I got a little space. It is always congested when six guys enter such a tight finish area. When there is so much money and the World Cup on the line, I give my all, just like Simon and Jan. I always do when I enter a race and never look to cheat in any way to get a win. I was actually in front when Jan reached out and lost his footing a little.
The World Championship series races are so close now and there is so many good athletes looking to win. In the run there is a first pack of sometimes up to 10 guys. The courses are multi loop with many U turns and corners. I actually enjoy racing these races. It is somewhat similar to a track race. Sometimes there are clipped heels and elbows. Of course I try not to touch other athletes in the swim bike or run but sometimes it is impossible. We all want to win and it would be crazy to think that all athletes make a pact to not touch each other in a race. We want to win and that’s what the crowd wants to see.
OLYMPIC RERUN – WITH A NEW ENDING
Jan: Our race was almost like a recap of the Olympics. Simon went early and put it all out there. Then we all went after him, but he held on for a well deserved win. He is an awesome sportsman. That just shows he has won lot of races. He has been racing forever, and his experience shows.
EVEN IN DEFEAT, FRODENO LOVED BEING A PART OF SUCH A DRAMATIC FINISH
Jan: It was absolutely great to be involved in a great race for the biggest prize in the sport that people will look at for years to come. I do not look at it that I lost $175,000. I look at it that I won $25,000 – my biggest paycheck at a one day event. To be part of a great sprint finish everyone can see in these legendary photos. I think this will be seen in quite a few recaps during the year. I am absolutely happy with it. Of course I would like to win. But I gave it my all. Bevan and myself did a lot of work on the bike. It was a little disappointing.
Brad Kahlefeldt:(from his website) I was happy with my race but again coming in 2nd was not what I was after. But I couldn’t really give it much more in the sprint. I was maxed out and with the combination of racing for close to 2hrs in the heat and desperation for the win and dipping (well diving) for the line. I fell at the line. It was somewhat similar to the Tongyeong finish (where Bevan Docherty nipped Kahlefeldt by a few chest hairs for the win). And yes again I got some more carpet burn that I have to deal with. Ha ha. I look at the photo and just smile. Some people properly think I see the finish tape and just decide to throw in a big dive like I am on the swim blocks in a 50m sprint but I actually prefer to walk away with both knees and elbows in good shape.
FRODENO AND WHITFIELD SHARE SOME WORDS
Simon: Yeah there is a camaraderie. Brad and Jan and I sprint at the end. And Jan and I at the Olympics. I think we all are very proud to be lined up together in such a fine sporting moment. I think we sat and watched the video together and expressed very genuinely a thrill to be part of it all. Yes, absolutely, that was a fun race to come down to a big pack sprint finish. I have never seen six guys sprinting that close together that close to the end. Usually someone fell back well before that.
AFTER TWO DUELS, FRODO AND SIMON ARE 1-1
Jan: It was a really cool moment. Even though I pulled the shorter end of the stick, we knew it was a very similar situation like Beijing. And obviously we talked about that. We also have a good amount of respect for each other. Now we will try to analyze the outcome of our two races, and we both will have better ideas of when and how to make a move next time around.
THIS RACE RANKS THIRD IN WHITFIELD’S ALL TIME THRILLS
Simon: This race ranks third in my career behind the gold and the silver at the Olympics. To win this, you are in a bit of a club of people who have won big paydays. Laura ( Bennett, $200,000 at 2007 Hy-Vee Triathlon) and Greg (Bennett, $500,000 for winning 2007 Hy-Vee series) have both won big checks. I am at a point in my career that was the one thing missing. I have two seconds at Life Time. I lost to Barb Lindquist in the Equalizer (in 2004) and to Crowie (in 2006) when we ran straight to the finish. I was fifth in Des Moines last year (2008) and went with the break running for first and faded to sixth. I had been close to big checks. You never know how long they will last. It certainly makes a substantial difference to your financial future. I am certainly proud of it. This was a race everyone wants to win.
WHITFIELD, AT 34, FEELING HIS AGE?
Simon: I’m the Old Dude of the Sport. I feel older, sure. Benno, myself, and Matty Reed represent the old crew for sure. We raced together in 1996 in Japan and that is a long time. Again, it certainly feels it plays on my mind a bit. But I still have one more good Olympics in me.
All images are © Delly Carr, Frank Wechsel and Timothy Carlson
