If ever the triathlon world needed further proof that Kristian Blummenfelt means business this year, then it arrived in the form of a subtle – yet incredible – social media post earlier this week as the Norwegian superstar recapped his opening month of pre-season fitness training.
Buried in amongst a series of images from his extensive preparations for the new campaign was an image that, upon closer inspection, set tongues wagging and proved beyond all doubt that this legendary Norsk Viking was building himself up into ‘Beast Mode’ for 2026.
The eighth of 12 images and clips was one of him standing on a treadmill in a lab, face covered in a mask, and looking at a monitor that was, it is understood, displaying his most recent performance. And upon closer inspection, that figure was his latest VO2 max score – indeed, a world record VO2 score.
What does the VO2 max score mean?
A test to determine the maximum amount of oxygen (in millilitres) your body can utilise per minute, per kilogram of body weight during intense exercise, the VO2 max basically measures the ability of the body to transport oxygen from the air to the muscles and to then use that to create energy.
It is often regarded as the ‘gold standard’ of cardiorespiratory fitness, with the higher number indicating greater aerobic endurance and better cardiovascular health. It is also supposed to be easier to set higher scores when the athlete is younger in age – the world record had been held by 18-year-old cyclist Oskar Svendsen, also from Norway.
Blummenfelt’s short clip showed how he had just achieved a score of 101.1; not bad for a guy who is due to turn 32 this coming Valentine’s Day.
A score of 70-85 is regarded as impressive for an elite endurance athlete, while a non-athlete man and woman aged 20-29 could expect scores of 46.8 and 37.6, respectively. Blummenfelt’s incredible score of 101.1 beat the previous record of 97.5 achieved by Svendsen.
Will it give him an added edge?
While he has neither actually confirmed nor denied the figure’s authenticity, there is no reason to doubt it – he is certainly not the sort of person who would ‘fake’ the news.
Having missed out on both the IRONMAN and 70.3 World Championship titles last year – where he finished third and second, respectively – he made it clear to anyone who was listening that he was ‘in it to win it’ and that success in the Pro Series, albeit nice, was simply no substitute for actually taking the titles that matter.
For a triathlete who has already won Olympic Gold in Tokyo and both a full and 70.3 World Championship in his illustrious career, it was expected at the end of last season that he would return all the stronger and determined to turn his near-misses into victories.
On both occasions he was in the hunt for victory but was beaten in the run, firstly in Nice by his Norwegian colleagues Casper Stornes and Gustav Iden, and then by Jelle Geens in Marbella.
Being able to dig that little bit deeper and for that little bit longer will certainly give him that added edge that he has been looking for – and send shivers down the spine of his competitors around the world.
He’d said before the 70.3 Worlds in Marbella that the target was to “at least get one World Championship title this season”. While post-race, when asked about his scorecard for the season, Blummenfelt was his own harshest critic: “Average, I would say. It gives me motivation at least for the next year.
“I guess it will be a big block of racing early in the season, a big block of training mid-year and then trying to do better in those World Championships. That’s what we race for – we want to win world titles. A podium is a podium, but I want to take that tape. I failed twice this year but have two more chances next year.”
