Triathlon gets star power
Canadian champ boosts event: Jones
Monday is arrival day in Edmonton for Canada’s newly minted international summer sports stars, coming to the City of Champions from two different directions to have their coronations at two different venues.
Arriving from Switzerland will be Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-paredes, who won the first beach volleyball world championship in Canadian history. They’ll compete at the old Northlands Park racetrack in the only FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in either Canada or the U.S. this year and the first in Canada since 2011.
Arriving from training in Victoria will be Tyler Mislawchuk, the 24-year-old from Oak Bluff, Man., who recently became the first Canadian male to win a medal at an ITU World Triathlon Series event since the series was created. Simon Whitfield’s days on top of the world, which included 2000 Olympic gold and 2008 Olympic silver, came before the elite series was created, when Edmonton was a regular host of World Cup events.
Pavan and Humana-paredes winning the world championship certainly was a major bonus for what is hoped will become an annual event on Edmonton’s summer sports calendar. But there is no understating what Mislawchuk’s podium finish could mean for Saturday’s elite events of the Edmonton World Triathlon Series stop and especially for next year’s WTS Grand Final and World Championships to be held here.
There was no one at the Montreal World Triathlon Series stop more excited or delighted than Edmonton’s event-creating hall of fame organizer Sheila O’kelly.
“Standing in the pouring rain in Montreal and watching Tyler pound his way to the podium was very emotional and thrilling,” O’kelly said.
“It was doubly special since I had instructions from his mom to cheer loudly since she could not be there. There’s been a nice connection with Tyler. I’ve always been super impressed with him both because of his ability and even keel. But to have him be the first Canadian to make it to the podium in series history is perfect because it was Tyler who stood at a different podium, the ITU podium, with us when we put forward our Grand Final bid in Leeds. We could not ask for a more outstanding ambassador,” she added of the event’s new flag-bearer.
“It’s very exciting to see our next generation of Canadian athletes breaking through. We’ve had a bit of a lull since our own Paula Findlay was at the top seven years ago,” said event general manager Stephen Bourdeau.
Edmonton’s Findlay won events in London; Kitzbuhel, Austria; Sydney; Madrid; and Kitzbuhel again in 2010 and 2011 to achieve the No. 1 ranking in the world.
“Tyler is a talented young athlete with a great personality to boot. He is so well respected by the other athletes for his determination and gutsy racing. I know Tyler wants to do well this weekend in front of his parents, friends, family and Canadian fans," Bourdeau said.
“What we need to get Edmonton and the country to its feet at next year’s Grand Final is a home country hero like Tyler to deliver. Having a Canadian to cheer that is capable of winning at the 2020 World Triathlon Series Grand Final will certainly make our job easier to bring out Edmontonians to show the world how loud and proud we can be.”
Mislawchuk has agreed to lead a VIP Bike Ride Tuesday morning at Hawrelak Park followed by a big breakfast event.
Mislawchuk has had time to come down since the Montreal stop on the series, which will hold this year’s Grand Final in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“In the moment I crossed the finish line, I was in pure elation,” he said from Victoria, where he trains. “As I stood on the podium, I was thinking about how tough this sport can be. My path to get there wasn’t exactly straight.
“To be the first Canadian male to climb on the podium is quite surreal. I really hope many more Canadian men can climb on it with me in the years to come. I was really humbled by a lot of messages from athletes around the world. Triathlon truly is a small-knit family
“The craziest thing about having some of these breakthrough results has been seeing the unwavering belief in me by so many people come through to fruition.”
What will it be like to come to Edmonton this week as a certified Canadian triathlon star for the first time? I asked if it might put extra wind in his sails.
“I love to have a short-term memory when I stand on the start line. Every athlete comes in with highs and lows and none of it matters when the gun goes off,” he said.
“That being said, the home crowd cheers will no doubt give me the extra boost on race day.”
And while this week he is focused on this race only, he also can’t wait until the big one next year.
“We are so lucky to have the Grand Final and world championships here next year. To win a medal at home at a world championship is on every athlete’s bucket list.”