Following the cancellation of WTCS Abu Dhabi, Kristian Blummenfelt has revealed which races he plans on attending before the Olympic Games, as he looks to win back-to-back titles in Paris.
Former IRONMAN World Champion and teammate Gustav Iden has a more open schedule, with the Bergen native attempting to recover from a difficult 2023 and bounce back from an achilles injury that has been plaguing him since last season.
In a video filmed by CADEX on YouTube, the duo talk through their off-season and share some thoughts ahead of a season filled with anticipation and expectation.
“I know sport is very challenging”
For Iden, 2023 presented a number of challenges on and off the race course, with the passing of his Mother dealing a major blow to the Tokyo Olympian, who last competed at the PTO Tour Asian Open in August.
“It’s been a challenging year as most of you who follow me know. I decided to pull the plug as my Achilles started to play up. I just want to get back into shape again, that is my number one priority.
“The Achilles is still an issue and it has been half a year, so for a guy that has never been injured before it is pretty worrying.
“But, I’m in triathlon for the long run, at least ten more years, so I will take my time to get back to being healthy. I know sport is very challenging and I am far from being in good shape.”
“Singapore was a relief”
Whilst the final PTO Tour race of the year in 2023 was unsuccessful for Iden, the race saw Blummenfelt finally achieve his long-term ambition of securing a win over the 100km distance.
“To win a PTO race is something I felt like I’d been striving for after three years. I failed to make it to the start line in Daytona in 2020, I came second in Edmonton, second again in Ibiza and third at the US Open, so I felt like I had one more shot before Paris in Singapore.
“To do it in Singapore was a relief, as I also secured the PTO Ranking for the second year in a row and combining that with also racing the test event was a pretty cool experience.”
Focused on Paris and Kona in 2024, Blummenfelt revealed in the video that his testing numbers were amongst the highest recorded, ever, with the Norwegian in good spirits, joking that “it’s optional to work hard, but I definitely recommend you to do so.”
His sights set on gold in the French capital this summer, the 30-year-old will be on everyone’s radar when he takes to the Parisian streets in July. Before then, the PTO World #1 could only confirm that he would race both WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Cagliari in May.
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