Norwegian Triathlon Federation Head Coach Arild Tveiten, who has transformed the nation’s triathlon team over the past two Olympic cycles, has high hopes for his team in both the individual and mixed team relay events ahead of this week’s Paris Olympic Test Event.
Tveiten, who last month saw his team take their first ever WTCS podium in the mixed team relay in Sunderland, is fully focused on qualifying the maximum number of athletes possible for the Olympic in the French capital next year, along with a relay team.
In an interview with TRI247 before the action kicks off in Paris, he shared how encouraging the result at WTCS Sunderland was, where the team is vulnerable and their ambitions for the individual and mixed team relay events.
Norway all in on Mixed Relay
Reflecting on their most recent success in the mixed team relay in Sunderland, having also won gold at the recent European Games in the discipline, Tveiten underlined how important the result was in proving that Team Norway was worthy of an Olympic berth.
“It was a very important and encouraging result for us, as it shows that we have a strong mixed relay team that should be in the Olympics. So now, we will go all in on the mixed relay at the Test Event and we are all looking forward to that.”
On the topic of the mixed team relay, which is made up of two men and two women, Tveiten did acknowledge that Norway was in a vulnerable position, due to the small amount of top-tier women they could call on. He has full confidence though in the ability of starting pair Lotte Miller and Solveig Lovseth.
“On the women’s side we are very vulnerable, as we don’t have any other athletes at this level other than Lotte and Solveig. But we don’t think so much about that. We play with the cards we have, as we have never had this many athletes at the highest level ever in Norway.”
“The main objective is to secure an Olympic spot”
Assessing the team’s objectives in Paris, Tveiten wasn’t afraid to be ambitious, but highlighted the importance of securing Olympic qualification, with any other results, such as a team podium, the perfect bonus.
“We hope that we will have one man on the podium and the others in the Top 10. For the women, we have Solveig in the individual race and we think that she on her best day can fight for a Top 10. The main objective for the mixed relay is to secure an Olympic spot, but I would say it would be fun to fight for a podium with all the best teams present and with their best athletes on the team.”
Looking back to Tokyo, where Team Norway failed to qualify for the mixed team relay, Tveiten doesn’t think the preparations have been too different, with the only disparate factors being the improved performance of the mixed team relay and slight changes within the team training groups.
“I don’t think things are too different. The biggest change is that we now have a mixed relay team that is important that we qualify with, but I don’t feel any more pressure or anything like that. The biggest difference is that the team training together and preparing for the race has changed a little.”
Laura Siddall: 10 things I’ve learned from my professional triathlon career
