Gustav Iden is back racing again, and he is back winning again, but that does not mean he is back yet at the incredible level we saw before his nightmare 2023. Or even close to it.
The sensationally talented 28-year-old from Bergen starred alongside Kristian Blummenfelt in recent years as the pair truly put Norway on the triathlon map.
Iden himself won a pair of IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in 2019 and 2021, and followed up by beating Blummenfelt to claim the IRONMAN World Championship title in Kona in 2022.
Gustav literally had the triathlon world at his feet – there was nothing he could not do, no peak he was unable to climb. But then came 2023.
A nightmare 2023 for Iden
It was a terrible year for Iden, who suffered the death of his mother after a long and brave battle against cancer, before struggling for form and eventually being sidelined by an Achilles injury.
Watching Gustav’s struggles during 2023 was painful for everybody in triathlon who has come to love not only his brilliance, but his infectious love for the sport and competition. The road back to the very top, a position he once filled with such apparent ease, would be long and hard.
That awful 2023 scuppered any hope of that Olympic dream in Paris – there would be no qualification and no chance to do better than his eighth-place finish in Tokyo. Instead the focus would be purely on that long road back.
Gustav took a notable step forward in June when he finished his first race in almost a year – claiming fourth place at IRONMAN 70.3 Warsaw. Afterwards though, he would admit: “kinda scared when I see how far it is back to the top level again”.
Gustav winning again
Fast forward six weeks to late July, and while the rest of the triathlon world was focused on the buildup to Paris 2024, Gustav was quietly claiming his first race win since Kona 2022 – a Challenge Turku success topped off with a 1:10:50 half-marathon.
Now there is one more race before Gustav returns to Kona in October, as Iden and compatriot Blummenfelt head for the unlikely surroundings of Uzbekistan for Challenge Samarkand on Sunday. While that might be a nice headline on the outside – Blummenfelt vs Iden again, two giants clashing once more – Gustav says the reality is still somewhat different.
Speaking at the pre-race press conference, he said: “Of course it was nice to win Challenge Turku; it’s nice to add a new victory and it’s good for motivation.
‘The band is back together’
“But, as an athlete I can feel in trainings if I’m in a good shape or not and to be honest I think I simply can’t beat Kristian or Rico at this moment. It’s a long way back to the top, but at least I’m on my way back. Sometimes you just need to accept that you can’t win everything.”
While victory, in his own mind at least, may be off the table, there is a very positive side to this weekend’s race for Gustav.
“In any case, it’s nice to be able to train and race together with Kristian again. The band is back together.”
While Blummenfelt will likely start favourite for Sunday’s race, coming off that brilliant victory at IRONMAN Frankfurt last month, he will face stern opposition in the shape of 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Rico Bogen.
Young pup Bogen takes on big dogs
Bogen cannot wait for the vibe of racing the two Norwegian superstars, but admits that if they are the big dogs, he is still merely a young pup despite that landmark win in Lahti last year.
“It’s very cool to race against the Norwegians. But, I think they are both legends already, while I’m only a rising star. I think I’m one of the favorites for Sunday, but we’ll see what happens.
“I hope I can take a win for Germany again. I definitely love that feeling of winning: there’s almost nothing in life that’s comparable to it. That’s what drives me.”
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