Olympic Heartbreak for White
Russell White has suffered heartbreak on the very last day of qualification.
White finished 29th at World Triathlon Cup Huatulco in Mexico – 10 places behind his main rival for Olympic qualification Stefan Zachaus.
The result means Zachaus – who trailed White by just three points for the last and final spot on the Olympic qualifying lists, overtakes White and will qualify a spot for Luxembourg.
White has now been pushed off the Olympic simulation and will not appear in the top 55 athletes assigned starting places at the Tokyo Olympics tomorrow when the qualification officially closes.
Gutted and Exhausted
Speaking straight after the race, White said he was gutted and exhausted:
“We crunched the numbers and I knew what I needed to do but I just didn’t quite get what I needed.”
“There were guys behind me that had less points to chance in their minimum score and that’s just how it played out and I just missed out on that final slot for now.”
White was the first person to congratulate Zachaus when he encountered him at the finish line.
Triathlon Ireland Performance Director Stephen Delaney paid tribute to White’s grit as he fought to defend his position – a task that involved racing five times in five weeks in locations from Japan to Italy and Mexico.
“He put everything in to this last few weeks and improved each week. But it just wasn’t to be. He did everything he could,” said Delaney.
Roll Over Chance Still Possible
With the Olympic Qualification period now closed, each country will nominate an athlete to compete on its behalf at the Games. A question mark hangs over the participation of Denmark’s Andreas Schilling who currently holds a place for his country but has retired from competition. With no other Danish athlete eligible to take over the place, this spot could be reallocated, giving White a small chance – this won’t be known for some time however.
White said after the race that he will have to sit tight until this outcome crystalises.
“It’s not completely over, the dream’s not dead just yet – we will just sit tight and see what happens.”
“Five races in five weeks, I did all I could, it’s been a hard journey with COVID and everything, an coming back for just five weeks with everything on the line.”
White added: “I just didn’t tip it across the line today but there’s still a glimmer of hope so I’ll hold on to that until somebody says otherwise.”
