One man's heartbreak turns into another's Olympic Games debut
Lepage ready to replace injured teammate at new relay event, Wes Gilbertson writes.
Triathlete Alexis Lepage knows how much sweat, how much sacrifice, Tyler Mislawchuk put into his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
He feels for his friend. Mislawchuk knows how much sweat, how much sacrifice, Lepage put into his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite his own disappointment, he's thrilled for his friend.
Mislawchuk suffered an Achilles tendon injury during the men's triathlon earlier this week and, with doctors warning that he'd risk further damage if he tried to tough it out, the star of Canada's program was forced to withdraw from the mixed team relay.
He'll be replaced by his training partner Lepage, who travelled to Tokyo as an alternate and figured he'd have to wait for his Olympic debut.
“I am honestly over the moon for the guy,” Mislawchuk said of Lepage. “I've trained with him on and off for the past five or six years. We grew up racing each other all the way from 2011 as young juniors. So I've seen how hard he works.
“Even when this Olympic team was made, I was wishing that we had three guys on the team and not just two, because I've shared a lot of my journey with him. I chatted to him and it's a bit surreal because it's this great opportunity for him and I think he knows, at the same time, that I'm a bit sad and disappointed with the outcome.
“But I'm super happy for the guy. Genuinely very, very happy.”
Thanks to a victory at the Tokyo 2020 test event and a reputation as a dude who doesn't seem to mind when the heat and humidity are cranked, Mislawchuk was considered a could-be medal threat in the men's triathlon.
The 26-year-old from Oak Bluff, Man., ultimately fell short of his lofty expectations with a 15thplace finish, explaining afterward that he'd cramped up in the on-foot phase.
“Without consciously knowing, I obviously changed my running form because of the pain in my Achilles. It was definitely frustrating knowing that I wasn't breathing super-hard or wasn't under the pump condition-wise, but under the pump because my body kind of failed me on the day. That's disappointing.”
Saturday's relay is a debut event with teams of four athletes, two male and two female, each completing a super-sprint distance.
While Mislawchuk misses a chance to redeem himself, Lepage gets a chance to introduce himself.
Now 27, he's been dreaming of this moment for two-plus decades.
“I was six and I couldn't sleep during the night and my dad just put me in front of the TV eating Cheerios and I was watching the Olympic Games in Sydney,” said Lepage, who hails from Gatineau, Que. “I didn't really know anything about the Olympic Games, but I just knew I wanted to be one of the athletes competing.”
Lepage will join Joanna Brown, Amelie Kretz and Matt Sharpe on Canada's mixed relay team. A super-sprint is a 300-metre swim, 6.8-kilometre bike and a two-kilometre run, so they'll all need their jets on.
Mislawchuk wishes he could be there to see it. He would have, he says, been “screaming as loud as I could” in support.
Unfortunately, due to COVID -19 precautions, he's not allowed along the course on race day. He'll be watching the TV feed instead, and you can bet he'll be smiling when Lepage gets his shot.