Russell White Back on Olympic Quest

While there might be fewer than 100 days to go before the triathlon events at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, the fate of Ireland’s leading contenders is still in the balance.

When the COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of international events last year, Russell White was ranked 55th out of 55 athletes on the all important Olympic Simulation Rankings – the table which boils down a complicated qualification system and indicates which countries will get to send an athlete to Tokyo.

With the rankings effectively suspended due to a lack of racing, White spent the winter unsure of what 2021 would hold. However last month came the news from World Triathlon that the qualification system would be re-opened in May and that points would be allocated from five races ahead of the Games.

This in effect meant that Russell White – and Ireland’s other Olympic hopefuls Carolyn Hayes and Con Doherty – would have to race abroad in May and June to secure a qualifying spot or hold on to the position they already occupy.

Five Races, Five Countries, Five Weeks

For White, this could mean racing five events in five countries on five consecutive weekends – a daunting challenge, even in the absence of stringent COVID protocols.

We caught up with Russell White at Triathlon Ireland’s high performance training camp in Craigavon, Northern Ireland where he has been training with fellow elite athletes James Edgar, Erin McConnell and Sabian Kulczynski.

The closed camp was devised when it became apparent that athletes like White would be unable to travel to their regular locations in Spain to prepare for racing and because of the relatively low levels of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland. All aspects of the camp were carefully planned to comply with special measures put in place by Sport Northern Ireland and Sport Ireland to allow elite athletes train.

Triathlon Ireland would like to thank Sport Northern Ireland, our Official Partner BMW and the South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon for their support in helping Russell prepare for his Olympic qualifying campaign.

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Question: Russell, how has the training camp been going?

It has been super, we’re staying up near where I live in Northern Ireland, and we’re using the South Lakes Leisure Centre which is a new facility that opened last year, but it hasn’t really had much public access so we’re actually helping them. We have a brand new, clean facility which is phenomenal for all the training we need to get ready for the races.

This is my final phase of prep leading in to some racing in May and it’s great to have the guys to push me along, on the bike, in the pool and on the run and just get ready for that sharpness for racing that’s coming up.

Question: What are you heading into now? What’s the kind of the challenge that lies ahead of you?

Qualification has reopened and there are five races back to back, starting on the 15th of May in Yokohama. Every weekend there’s a race from Yokohama to Lisbon to Italy to Leeds and then on to Huatalco in Mexico. I need to hit all the races and try to confirm my slot and get my ticket for the Games.

Question: And how are you doing at the moment in terms of the Olympic simulation?

I am right at the risky end – 55th out of 55 athletes so I can’t view it as defending that slot, I nearly need to go in to attack mode and move myself up and make myself more comfortable. A big race day will fire me up, there’s no reason why I can’t move up compared to the people who are behind be trying to take my slot.

Question: So five races in five weeks – will you be looking to get five decent results out of those, will that make it safe for you? What’s the calculation?

You can only carry five or six races per qualification period. My first qualification period was much better than my second period – I podiumed in Karlovy Vary in the World Cup and that’s locked in and safe.

Some of the people around me have had better second qualification periods, so they can only improve with a better result whereas I have results that I can almost scrap and replace so even one big result will make a huge difference.

Question: You’ve been at this long enough to judge your form, but you haven’t raced in quite a while. How do you think you are heading into these races?

We will be racing in May and for the last couple of years, that was nearly the middle of the season so we’ve actually had the luxury of the biggest winter training block ever and that’s a huge benefit.

I do respond well to that big base so the fact that I haven’t raced is actually a benefit – I feel really strong across all three (sports).

During lockdown I was able to really focus on my run and now it’s nearly my best out of three so I am really looking forward to getting in to racing and seeing where that run form is that I probably didn’t have this time last year.

Question: It’s every athlete’s dream to make it to the Olympics. What would it mean to you to get there?

Oh, it’s huge. Even growing up as a swimmer and it was the dream to go to the Olympics.

For the Rio Olympics I was a training partner for Bryan Keane and Aileen Reid and even though I knew I wasn’t ready at that time, to be so close to it and be immersed in their preparations, it only makes you hungrier.

For the past four years it’s been my sole focus – me going to these Games and fulfilling my dream.