Controversy?: Canadian Men's Olympic Triathlon Team

Here is an interesting article about the recent Canadian Olympic Triathlon Team selections. There seems to be some infighting but hopefully everyone steps up and achieves the common goal of winning in Beijing.

I think that both Simon and Paul can bring home medals at Beijing. Paul should not take a back seat role. He can go for a top 3 and still "help out" Simon. In fact, they can help each other out since they both need to be in that front pack of the swim, bike, and then its every man for themselves come that final run.


Tichelaar not tickled by role
Edmonton athlete asked by Triathlon Canada to focus efforts on getting Simon Whitfield on podium in Beijing

Gary Kingston
Vancouver Sun; Canwest News Service
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

VANCOUVER - There were bound to be happy athletes and some unhappy ones when Triathlon Canada named its men's team for the Beijing Olympics.

Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton found himself in both camps.

The contentious selection process was left to a five-person high-performance committee late Sunday after neither Tichelaar, nor Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., were able to secure an automatic berth behind the already-qualified Simon Whitfield with a top-eight finish at the ITU world championship in Vancouver earlier in the day.

The fast-improving Tichelaar came closest with a stirring ninth-place finish. But his relief at being named to the squad was tempered with some bitterness when he was informed that both he and third member Colin Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., would be expected to focus their efforts on helping Whitfield -- the 2000 Olympic champion -- make the medal podium.

Tichelaar's role wasn't articulated during a media conference call Monday morning with the athletes and Triathlon Canada executives. But Tichelaar confirmed in a later interview that the federation wants him to work on team tactics.

"What kind of reasonable decision is that?" said the blunt Tichelaar, who with three top-eights on the World Cup circuit this season and his strong effort Sunday could well be a medal contender himself.

"There was a little unbelief, well maybe not unbelief because I was kind of expecting something like this from this group of people," he added.

"It took the wind out of my sails. Here was something I should have been celebrating and I'm a little ambivalent now. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole situation," added Tichelaar, who said he wanted to take a couple of days to ponder his position "before I really open my mouth."
He certainly isn't shy about doing that. Last week, he directed pointed comments towards Triathlon Canada for the way the qualifying standard was toughened and at Whitfield for being a "big dog" who needs to "get his bone."

Whitfield said Tichelaar was being disrespectful and petty. On the conference call, they tried to make nice and Tichelaar said he believes they can "sort out" any disagreements. But he's clearly not fully onboard.

Many believe the qualifying standard was toughened to ensure team selection would be turned over to the high-performance committee and result in Jenkins, who was being openly campaigned for by Whitfield, being added at the expense of higher-ranked teammates Jones and Brent McMahon of Victoria.

National team head coach Joel Filliol, who was on the high-performance committee, said the standard represented what it would take to win an (Olympic medal) and Tichelaar didn't achieve that.
On the conference call, both Filliol and Whitfield reiterated that with team tactics coming more and more into play -- and national team funding based in part on winning medals -- it's essential to use a team concept in Beijing.

"I can't say enough about the tremendous effort Triathlon Canada put into this," said Whitfield. "It's cutting edge. I bumped into one of the Australian coaches (Monday morning) and he said 'you guys are smart' and nodded. It's a tribute to the fact we've thought this through.
"We're putting together a team that's about medal contention. The pressure's on me. We set this team up, now I have to go and perform."

The idea is that Tichelaar and, in particular, Jenkins -- who is an excellent swimmer and strong on the bike -- can help Whitfield if he comes out behind the lead pack in the swim. Or, they could cover breakaways by strong cyclists during the 40-kilometre bike leg.

McMahon, a 2004 Olympian who was 17th on Sunday, said he was the victim of politics and would have had to do something "miraculous" to change what he believed were the already made-up minds of the high-performance committee.

He also said he believes it would be better to have three athletes strong in all disciplines working together at Beijing, and he questioned whether Jenkins can do much to affect things.
"At the end of the day, Simon has to be ready to win on his own. If he's not in a position to win, it doesn't matter what Colin or Paul do."

Meanwhile, a decision on the selection of the women's team for Beijing has been delayed, likely to give the high-performance committee time to collect more information on the left heel injury suffered a week ago by Victoria teenager Kirsten Sweetland.

Vancouver's Lauren Groves has pre-qualified for Beijing. Those in the running for the final two spots are Sweetland, Edmonton's Carolyn Murray and Montreal's Kathy Tremblay.

Also this one:

Whitfield to get help in triathlon medal bid
JAMES CHRISTIE
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

The pressure of winning a triathlon medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics sits on the shoulders of Simon Whitfield, and the gold medalist at the 2000 Games appreciates that's where it belongs after Triathlon Canada put a “helper” in the Olympic field to boost him toward the podium.

“This is about winning medals,” Whitfield said in a teleconference yesterday in which his ticket to Beijing was confirmed, along with those of Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton and Colin Jenkins of Hamilton.

Jenkins's specific role is not to compete for a medal for Canada, but to sacrifice himself as a domestique in a team-racing strategy, setting up Whitfield, 33, for a run at the medals.

The nomination of Jenkins for the team over Brent McMahon of Victoria – whose 17th place finish in the world championships got Canada's men a third spot in Beijing – has invited criticism.
However, McMahon said last night he will not appeal Triathlon Canada's picks.

“They've been pushing this way of racing for the past year and we knew going in you'd have to be in the top eight at the worlds to be automatically selected,” he said of Jenkins's selection. “I just hope Paul gets to run his own race, because he's shown he's a contender.”

Tichelaar had said last week that Triathlon Canada was plainly building around Whitfield's potential as “the big dog” in the pack. “And he's getting his bone.”

Yesterday, in the wake of a ninth-place finish at the worlds, Tichelaar said he was happy the selection ordeal was over and believed the three teammates would train together harmoniously. “We're balancing some of the top athletes in the sport with some fair-sized egos. We held it pretty much together.”

Whitfield said taking heat is an inevitable consequence of realism. With a level of confidence bordering on audacity, he reckoned he's Canada's main medal threat and is glad that Triathlon Canada gave one of the three spots to an athlete who accepts the role of setup man in the swimming and cycling portions of the triathlon.

“I can't say enough about the cutting edge Triathlon Canada is trying to put in,” Whitfield said. “I just passed one of the Australian coaches and he said he wished they were as smart as we are.
“At the end of the day, the pressure falls on my shoulders. … The Canadian sports system is funded based on winning medals, not on just participating. When Triathlon Canada tries to put together a team with that goal, we're bound to take a little criticism. But they're walking the walk after having talked the talk.”

Jenkins, who finished 55th in the world championships, is a strong swimmer and cyclist and knows his role is to put Whitfield in a position to challenge Spain's world champion, Javier Gomez, who has been on the podium the past 16 times he has raced.

“When the criteria came out, I talked to [Olympic coach] Joel Filliol, and we decided my best chance to make the team would be to show myself as a team racer, and over the last 12 months I've tried to perfect that role,” Jenkins said. “I have no pipe dream I would be on top of the podium in Beijing. It isn't about me. … I'm going to Beijing to try and help Simon win. That's my role and I've been fine with that for the past 12 to 18 months.”

Whitfield said he felt for McMahon, the Pan American Games silver medalist who had been his teammate in Athens. “He had an extraordinary [world championship] and he should be proud of that. … But with all respect, he had four chances to make the team and this was his fourth chance.”

Jenkins won the pot in a poker game he didn't relish. In order to be selected, he said, he knew he had to rely on McMahon securing Canada a third spot for Beijing.

“It's a hard position to be in,” he said. “I knew people's emotions would get high and some would be upset.”

He said he will work hard on swimming and biking at the expense of his running.

At the next World Cup, in Des Moines, Iowa, he and Whitfield will have one more chance to practise their teamwork, with Jenkins jockeying Whitfield to the front of the swim pack, then leading him in cycling so that he saves energy by drafting.

“The chances of winning change by small percentages,” Whitfield said. “We have to put every advantage forward we can.”

He said the French, Australians, Swiss and possibly the Russians will race using team strategies in Beijing as well.