Sam Dickinson will look to replicate his brilliant performance from the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he makes his Olympics debut in Paris.
The 26-year-old is aiming to make a gruelling qualification process pay off in style in the French capital over the next couple of weeks.
Firstly he will bid to help great friend Alex Yee to gold in the men’s individual race before the two join forces in the Mixed Team Relay on Monday 5 August.
Focus on the relay
Things couldn’t have worked out much better at the Commonwealths in Birmingham when Yee lauded Dickinson for burying himself on the bike to help him win gold before they combined for another Team England gold in the relay.
It’s less than two months since Dickinson found out for certain that he had sealed the second and final men’s spot for Team GB after a qualifying tussle which ended with him outbattling none other than Jonny Brownlee in the last 200 metres of the run at the Europe Triathlon Cup Kielce.
Before then he’d covered the globe in the previous 12 months to give himself the best chance of success. He raced in China, South Korea and Japan last October before heading to Chile and Agadir before the year was out. He also stepped up in distance to take second at IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain.
He then started 2024 in New Zealand and speaking to TRI247 a week before the men’s race in Paris he explained: “It mainly flipped at the start of the year as to what my year’s goals were. Coming off the back of an injury [to his femur] the year before had pretty much taken me out of qualifiying an automatic spot by getting my ranking into the top 30.
“We decided to go all in on the relay, knowing that would be a potential selection option and thankfully for me it paid off.
“I had to take a chance in Napier at the start of the year and I’ve done plenty of relays in my career so it’s been about trying to hone those skills.
“I’ve been targeting shorter races, for example the indoor league in Lievin [where he was seventh] and Super League’s E World Triathlon Championships in London [fourth] which was a bit more of an indoor hit out.
“Then came by Kielce at the end – we certainly knew that it was a race of the correct distance which was at the perfect time to see who was going well when they needed to be going well. It turned out to be a great battle on the day.”
With the relay in Paris just a 300m swim, a 5.8km and a 1.8km run it’s no wonder Dickinson adds: “Getting those short, fast races up to scratch was my goal this year.”
Tokyo a stepping stone
And asked by TRI247 how much confidence he takes from his Commonwealth Games heroics in 2022, he pointed out: “I take it further back to Tokyo – I was there the whole way until the race. I’ve done all the processes which come around the Olympics, apart from the race itself – controlling your controllables in the environment.
“You just have to merge those two together in my eyes – the experience of Tokyo and then helping Alex in the individual in Birmingham but also playing a key role in the relay and being able stand on the podium and hear Jerusalem gives you that major Games accomplishment.
Although this will be my first Olympics competing in the individual and the relay, I still think I have confidence and experience to draw from.
But what exactly will his role be in the individual event? To help Yee in whatever way he can on the swim and the bike?
He answers: “Without wanting to share all the secrets, I have my own specific race plan which is worked in conjunction with Alex.
“I’ve been picked predominantly for the relay, however for a personal development point of view I still need to use this experience to maximise my own individual race as well. And we have guidelines to race intelligently with each other as well.
“But I have my own specific goals in the race as well which I need to hit, so I’m not just diving in blind.
“I’m happy with where the bike legs are at the moment and I’ll look to swim well too. It’s a river swim so it throws in a few different curveballs there but we’re very well prepared for all we have to deal with on the day and I’m looking forward to it.”
‘I have 100% trust in him’
And the relationship with Yee couldn’t be much closer, with Alex explaining: “Sam’s one of my good mates. We lived together for three years so it’s pretty special to share this experience together. He knows what he’s doing, he’s well prepared.
“He’s gone through a fairly stressful time trying to qualify against Jonny but that’s brought the best out of him and I am sure this will as well. I have 100% trust in my team.
“Qualifying for an Olympics is no mean feat. We’ve seen plenty of amazing athletes not be able to stand on the start line this summer. Huge respect to him.”
And that’s echoed by Dickinson who says: “There’s probably not that many teams who have that type of bond. We’ve been there for each other when we’ve been at our worst and when we’ve been at our best.”
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