Olympic Preview – White and Hayes Ready for Tokyo

Russell White and Carolyn Hayes are about to step up to the biggest races of their careers as they represent Ireland at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

It’s been a long road for both athletes – and each have had their own unique hurdles to overcome. The Tokyo Games marks the fourth Olympics in a row that Ireland has been represented in the triathlon event and next week Carolyn and Russell will join Emma Davis (Beijing 2008), Gavin Noble (London 2012), Aileen Reid (London 2012 & Rio 2016), and Bryan Keane (Rio 2016) in the pantheon of Ireland’s Olympian triathletes.

How to Watch

The men’s race begins at 10:30pm on Sunday 25th July Irish time (which is 06:30am on Monday 26th July in Japan). BBC will carry the full race on BBC One and via the BBC Red Button. RTE 2 will carry the concluding stages of the race from 00:55am on Monday morning.

The women’s race begins 24 hours later – at 10:30pm on Monday 26th July Irish Time (06:30am on Tuesday morning in Tokyo). RTE and BBC 1 will both carry the race live from 10:30pm.

White – Man on a Mission

Russell White had one of the most difficult and dramatic pathways to Tokyo and heading in to Sunday night’s race is on a mission to show the kind of performance he’s capable on his best days.

After a strong opening qualifying period, he struggled for form once racing came back in 2021 and was forced to take on a gruelling five races over five weeks in a bid hold on to the very last qualifying spot on the Olympic Simulation list.

In fact it wasn’t until 24 hours after the last race ended that White finally received confirmation that he had made it on to the list of 55 athletes who had secured spots for Tokyo.

This has left him with a sense that he has a lot more to give than the world has seen in recent performances and now that he’s made it to Tokyo, he’s ready to prove it.

“I’ll probably race with a loss less pressure. The most pressure came from myself on those five races. As much as I didn’t want to race defensively, that’s what I found out I was doing.”

“I was nearly man-marking the men around me who could potentially have taken the slot.”

“I think in Tokyo if I have any kind of fitness, I will be so much better than what I showed in those five races, just by the attitude change, almost the weight off my shoulders.”

“I am not going there to make up numbers or roll around and have fun, although it will be much more fun when I have the chance to lay down a good performance because I know I am in far better form than I showed in those five races. I really wasn’t even getting that out in those races so I am really excited to race to my potential.”

Check out Triathlon.org for the men’s start list, course maps and lots of great content.

Hayes – The Form Athlete of 2021

Carolyn Hayes’ trajectory in 2021 puts her among the most exciting athletes in the entire women’s field at the Olympics.

Hayes needs no introduction – as an 11 time National Champion over just about every distance, she was all conquering on the domestic scene.

But her transformation in to a world-class athlete took some time – largely because of her dedication to her medical studies. For years, Hayes balanced one of the toughest career paths with one of the toughest training regimes and it wasn’t really until she had qualified as a doctor that she was able to dedicate herself full time to triathlon.

Since then we’ve witnessed Hayes blitz the top tier of international racing – first through a series of wins and podiums at Continental Cup level through 2018 and 2019, then the next step up – a top ten at the European Champs and at the Karlovy Vary World Cup in 2019.

But it was in the final run of qualifying races this year that Hayes really announced her arrival as a world class athlete. She claimed silver behind Nicola Spirig at a World Cup in Lisbon in May, then followed on with 10th at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Leeds two weeks later – a race that contained most of the big hitters Hayes will compete against in Tokyo.

But Carolyn isn’t taking anything for granted and under the direction of her coaches Eanna McGrath and Gavin Noble, she told us she is ready for the race of her life

“The Olympics is the pinnacle of all sports… to know that I am going to be racing.. is humbling and I am very proud.”

“It’s been great to see that the training I’ve done throughout COVID has been extremely worthwhile and Eanna and Gavin have gotten it so right. And then Lisbon was a massive boost.. to follow it up in Leeds with a top 10, it’s just huge for the confidence and I am definitely going to be looking for a big day over there.”

“To be able to get those results when everyone is hoping looking to peak, it bodes well so we are definitely doing something right in training”

Check out the women’s start list on triathlon.org