He’s a former UK Special Forces Soldier, perhaps best known by most of us as a DS on the UK TV show SAS: Who Dares Wins.
But after qualifying for the age group T100 Triathlon World Championship Qatar at his first ever triathlon in Dubai last month, Ollie Ollerton seems to have well and truly caught the triathlon bug.
Falling into triathlon
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s age group World Championship race in Qatar, Ollerton revealed that qualifying wasn’t something he had really planned to do. “I had a load of friends that signed up for Dubai T100. I was actually going to do an Ironman, I thought my first [triathlon] should be an Ironman, which is stupid! So I started training in Dubai and it was ridiculous. The whole thing for me is being outdoors. So being on a treadmill and the turbo it just wasn’t for me.
“But then some friends in Dubai convinced me to do the T100 race there instead. Funnily enough, the week before they all pulled out. So they left me on my own!
“Straight away, my mind went ‘just don’t do it’. But then a little voice said ‘just do it and prove them all wrong, because they’ll all be jealous.’ So I just went into [T100] because friends were doing it and ended up falling into it.”
From worrying about the cut off times to qualifying for worlds
After deciding to line up on the start line in Dubai, Ollie didn’t exactly have qualifying for the World Championship on his mind. In fact, as a total first timer, he revealed he was more concerned about just making it to the finish line ahead of the cut-off times.
“It’s funny, because I’ve not done one before I was starting to wonder how long it is before they [the race officials] tell you to stop, you know because your times are that bad and they tell you to stop and shoehorn you out of the way or something!
“I had no expectations, I’ve never put the three together. I’ve always done the three [sports], but I’ve not been on a bike for a long time and that turned out to be my strongest discipline.”
‘Rookie’ errors and learnings from Dubai
Clearly, cut-off times needn’t have been a concern for Ollie. He finished ninth in his age group and bagged himself a spot on the Qatar T100 World Championship start line in the process. And much like every other first time triathlete who gets hooked on the sport, he came away from that first race with plenty of lessons learned – and a hunger for more.
“There’s a lot I learned from that first one. You know, it’s little things like I didn’t wear socks for the run. So I was hobbling around and the blisters on my feet were just insane. So learning all those things and learning my kit and also knowing what’s in front of me. I just know I’ll shave time off.”
So all eyes will be on those age group leaderboards on Saturday 13 December to see how the former SAS: Who Dares Wins star fares with a bit of experience behind him.
“We have far more potential than we’re led to believe”
He might have doubted his chances at that first race back in Dubai, but it’s perhaps Ollerton’s tenacity and ability to tap into his SAS background to unlock another level of mental toughness that makes him so adept at endurance sport.
“I actually had a near-death experience as a kid, it’s a crazy story… I was being attacked by a wild animal at the circus. It’s my first memory of life on this planet where I actually went to a different place where I realised that we’ve got so much more potential than we’re led to believe.
“And that helped me get through special forces selection. And actually where I was at a point in my life where I was actually thinking it’d be better if I wasn’t here. It was that inner voice that said, ‘you’ve got more, that’s not the answer’.
“The brain is a wonderful thing, but it’s a mechanism that’s designed to look after us, to protect us. And if you allow it to do that, it keeps you small. So it absolutely has helped me with everything in life, just knowing we’ve got more.”
Talking about that moment that every triathlete will have experienced during a race, where the mind starts telling you to stop, Ollerton alluded to being able to tap into that ‘I’ve got more’ mindset: “You’ve just got to appreciate it, accept it and just say ‘look, not yet, there’s a bit more.’”
“Always aim for something bigger”
Qualifying for Qatar might have been by chance, but Ollerton seems to have well and truly caught the triathlon bug – the ability to keep pushing for more suiting his on the go mentality.
“People ask me how I relax,” he said, “I like jumping out of plans and riding motorbikes. And people think that’s not relaxing. But for me, that’s when you can’t think about other things. Sitting around doing stuff, your laptop always end up on your lap or you end up on your phone. There’s a time and a place for that, but it’s important to recalibrate and then get going for your next target and your next goal.
“I just think we should always be aiming for something bigger, and I think that’s the key to a lot of people’s mental health issues. When the body plateaus, the mind starts going to a flat spin and it’s just saying to you ‘we need to do something different.’
“I think if people understood that, instead of becoming very insular and stepping outside into a bit of discomfort, they’d go on a path that would get them out of that area. I know when I don’t train for a while, I start to feel the depression come in a little bit.
“I think we’re designed to do that, to always keep moving and always aim for something bigger.”
Triathlon has unlocked ‘true potential’
It’s a testament to the power of sport that a former SAS officer feels it’s triathlon that’s truly shown him his potential. Asked if he plans to keep going in triathlon after the Qatar T100 World Championship race this weekend, Ollerton didn’t miss a beat: “I’m doing the lot now!
“I did a VO2 max test and I’m in the top 1% apparently. So I think I’ve got something to give and it’s almost like it’s uncovered my true potential through doing that T100 [in Dubai], which was amazing. It’s a new lease of life!”
And that’s something most of us can relate to: triathlon as a vehicle to test your limits and discover that you can achieve more than you might believe. Ollie Ollerton might not be your average age-grouper, but like all of us in this sport – he’s had the classic transformation from ‘one and done’ to always looking ahead to the next triathlon start line!
