USA! USA. USA?

Full disclosure. My own feeble abilities give me absolutely no right to criticize anyone else when it comes to triathlon results. However, since Al Gore forgot to include any editorial control when he invented the Internet, here goes........

OK, why doesn't the USA dominate triathlon? We invented the sport. We have a lot of people with spare cash to buy the best equipment and enough free time on their hands to train like they are getting ready for the Navy SEAL tryouts. We have access to all the right food (and most of the bad foods) along with every supplement you could want. We have coaches, doctors, and drugs (legal and probably at least some folks using illegal ones). We have a lot more races in the USA to earn slots to Kona. So what's up?

2000 Sydney Olympics
USA men. Shut out from the podium
USA women. Shut out from the podium

2004 Athens Olympics
USA men. Shut out from the podium
USA women. One third place medal

2007 ITU Worlds in Hamburg, Germany
USA Pro men. No one in the top-5
USA Pro Women. One third place medal
USA Age Group men. 4 x Gold medals (Only one less than 60 years old)
USA Age Group women. 4 x Gold medals (Only one less than 70 years old)

Kona 2007
USA Pro men. 4th, 6th, and 9th place
USA Pro women. 7th place
USA Age Group men. 5 x Gold medals (Only one less than 50 years old, and three of them were over 60 years old)
USA Age Group women. A welcome change! A near sweep of the age groups, only missing out on the 18-24 age group.

With the exception of the USA Age Group women at Kona this year, these are pretty slim pickings. Does this bother me? Not really. I don't live and die based on the results of any team or individual. It's just one more thing to ponder during a 5-hour bike ride/2-hour run/1-hour swim. What do they have in Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal that we don't have? I can understand why Norway has better cross country skiers, and how would you expect the USA to start producing star sumo wrestlers, but our relative lack of recent success in triathlon gives me something to think about.

So, if you're reading this, why aren't you out there training!

muffinman