Hauser easing back to build for Olympics tilt
COMMONWEALTH Games and world mixed relay champion Matt Hauser will take a step back from open elite racing as he shifts his focus to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hauser was part of Australia’s four-person team to win gold in the mixed relay at his Games debut, while he shocked many of the world’s best to finish fourth in the individual men’s race.
His success in the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run sprint format came on the back of his World Triathlon Series debut in 2017.
Coach Dan Atkins revealed Hauser, 20, would limit his WTS appearances to Yokohama on May 12, Hamburg on July 14 and Edmonton on July 27.
Atkins said 2018 would become a fact-finding mission as he looked to develop Hauser into an Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) athlete two years out from Tokyo.
“He will focus on just developing,” Atkins said.
“We will aim to do three WTS events. He will do Yokohama as a bit of a trial because he has never done Olympic distance and we will see how things go.
“He will put his hand up for Hamburg then put his hand up for Edmonton as well because they both have relays as well.
“We want him to keep focusing on both individual and relays to keep putting his hand up for Tokyo now and we will see how he goes at the Olympic distance.
“I can’t go from training him the way I am to saying right, we have to double it.
“I’ve got to be smart about looking after his body and mental state. It will be a bit of a fact-finding mission this year then we will go hells bells next year.”