EDITORIAL

AFTER A THIRD-PLACE FINISH at the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship, Jackson Laundry took possibly the biggest win of his career at Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant last June. Thanks to those results, the 26-year-old seemed set for a big day at the 70.3 world championships last September in Nice, France.

He was following through on that, too, until he moved out of his comfort zone on the speedy descent. Eric Lagerstrom passed him and, instead of just sticking with his own pace, Laundry tried to match the American’s. He took one of the tricky turns on the technical course too fast and crashed into a post with his shoulder. His scapula was broken in 12 places and he broke his collarbone. Because of the technical course and all the athletes on it, it took three and a half hours to get Laundry to the hospital. He flew home the next day.

Ever the optimist, Laundry is quick to point out that things could have been much worse. He hadn’t broken the head of the humerus bone, he points out. He also hadn’t, like so many involved in similar accidents, broken any ribs, his back or neck, or sustained a concussion.

Sure. That’s completely normal. First thing we all think of when we’ve broken our shoulder: what didn’t break that could have?

Jackson Laundry is far from normal, though. In addition to his incredibly positive nature, Laundry is driven to the extreme. His surgeon says he’s never seen anyone with a similar injury recover as much range of motion so quickly. Laundry was in the pool a little over a month after the surgery. He’s been cycling and running for even longer. When we spoke last December, a plate in his shoulder was his limiting factor. That came out a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Laundry is determined to “get back to the level [he] was over the 70.3 distance,” and seems equally as determined to do that quickly. He hopes to race Ironman 70.3 Campeche, in Mexico, in March.

“This might be a little setback, but in the long term I will come back stronger from all the lessons I’ve learned,” he says. “People have come back from worse and been stronger afterward.”

All of which is great news for Canadian triathlon fans, and scary news for Jackson Laundry’s competitors next year.

I hadn’t seen Laundry compete too many times before I witnessed his amazing day at Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant. I was impressed with the way he handled himself that day – riding and running with confidence as he held off some of the best triathletes in the world. I’m even more impressed, though, with how much character he’s showing through adversity.

That’s the sign of a true champion. KEVIN MACKINNON EDITOR