I started Triathlon a little over 2 years ago and immediately latched on to the professional Lionel Sanders. I didn’t know a whole lot about Lionel at that point, I didn’t even really know how good he was, and I am not even Canadian. It definitely feels weird to be looking up to someone your own age, but… you gotta have a hero and professional athletes come with a shelf life. Regardless of what drew me to him I think the deal was really sealed shortly after that when I watched the Kona World Championships in 2017.
Coming out of the water way back in the field, he cranked his way into first place half way through the bike. He was actually leading the rest of the race until the last few miles where the ultimate champion, Patrick Lange, took over the lead. I remember it very clearly when the pass happened because, despite Lionel losing his lead, I saw in his face some of the grimmest determination that I have ever seen, and that is when I knew Lionel was worth watching.
This was only Lionel’s 4th year as a professional and he was taking home a second place medal from Kona, it inspired me and ultimately drove me harder towards my own Triathlon goals.
That was 2 years ago and a lot has happened since. 2018 was a very lack luster year for Lionel at Kona. A plethora of issues plagued him including overtraining right up to race day and a failed dietary change just a few months before. The entire day there was little to no coverage of Lionel. His fans, including my self, were heart broken to see him cross the finish line in a dismal 28th place.
Fast forward several months and the big announcement came of his injury. Stress fracture of the sacrum from the constant pounding of over training and possibly capped off with a small fall from his bike. His sacral injury took several months of physical training and recovery. As of today in late July he is back up to full training loads, but is it too late?
Lionel hasn’t raced yet in 2019 and as the qualification deadline gets nearer the pressure looms. This late in the season there are relatively few options for qualification, but there is a glimmer of hope. Lionels best chance for qualification this year is at Ironman Mont Tremblant, the last qualification race of the year. This is a home race of sorts for Lionel, he has won here a whopping 4 times at the 70.3 level, but never at the full distance.
The past year for Lionel has had a lot of barriers to break through and mountains to climb, but to hear him talk on his YouTube channel, he is taking it all in stride and learning the lessons needed to grow as a professional triathlete. The recovery time has given him the time he has needed to focus on his swim. He has also said that he feels he is in the best bike shape he has ever been in. To top it all off he has also taken the low and slow running lead in after injury to incorporate a lot of activation exercises and strength training. Hopefully this means we won’t have to seem him hop, skip and jerk his way through the second half of the marathon like in Kona 2017.
So, it all comes down to Lionel and his will to get the work done and execute at Mont Tremblant. What do you think? Can Lionel turn this season around and make it to Kona? Let me know in the comments.
Images thanks to @TALBOTCOX
www.youtube.com/lionelsanders