‘The Norwegian Method’ has been the talk of triathlon for the past three years, carrying all before it.
Between them, Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden have won every prize the sport has to offer, both in short-course racing and over longer distances.
But this summer some of that gloss was removed when Blummenfelt failed in his bid to defend the Olympic title at Paris 2024.
‘Big Blu’ would finish only 12th as Britain’s Alex Yee surged to that unforgettable triumph in the French capital, an experience coach Olav Aleksander Bu now describes as ‘a smack in the face’ for all concerned.
No longer was there nothing the Norwegians could not do, with Blummenfelt’s audacious bid to move back down in distance yielding nothing better in 2024 than a 10th-place finish in Yokohama.
Since then things appear to be returning to something more like the Norwegian ‘normal’, with Blummenfelt destroying his rivals at IRONMAN Frankfurt less than a fortnight after the dust settled on the Paris Games. Iden meanwhile is gradually building back towards his best after a 2023 ruined by injury and personal tragedy.
Bu on Paris 2024
Bu, speaking on Santara’s Norwegian Method podcast, admitted: “I think it is sometimes good to get a smack in the face, Paris was a smack in the face and I think everybody needs it now and then.
“We have to remember the history of Kristian, Kristian won the Olympics, he won the World Championship Series, he won the Grand Final, the PTO series, Sub7 and he still holds the fastest time for a 70.3 and for a full IRONMAN.
“One thing that I didn’t mention that came to my mind is that one of the basic skills, the most important skill I brought into the team in 2016 was the importance to do intensity control, and I will say this last year has been one of the worst – we have not been good at it.
“You get a little bit too confident, you need a little bit more freedom, maybe one gets a little bit too cocky and then it’s good to get a smack in the face and don’t get lazy – sometimes the problem is you get too lazy.”
Next up: IRONMAN Kona
There has been no cockiness or laziness in the Norwegian camp as Blummenfelt and Iden prepare for their next huge test – the IRONMAN World Championship at Kona this weekend (Saturday October 26).
Bu openly admits that his hope for the rebuilding Iden is realistically a top-five finish, but with Blummenfelt things are different. The definition of success for ‘Big Blu’ will equal victory and the biggest prize in long-course triathlon.
So what will it take for that to happen? The target is absolutely more record-breaking brilliance two years on from Iden smashing the Kona course record with 7:40:24 en route to victory in 2022.
Bu says quite simply: “Our target is not to be slower than we were in 2022.”
If that goal is realised on Saturday in Hawaii, it would be difficult to bet against another major prize heading for Norway. Whatever happens, it will be fascinating viewing. Pass the popcorn…
Are we in a triathlon boom, or hurtling towards burnout? Laura Siddall on the growth of the sport
