“I am a curious person looking forward to the challenges and trying to find out what is possible. I love the journey as much as the challenge. Did I balance speed on the track with enough endurance in the Marathon? Let’s find out together. It’s not easy to face the unknown, but my curiosity has driven all my training towards this goal. I will try my best to succeed.” This is a quote from Siffan Hassan before the Paris Olympics, where she is challenging herself by preparing and competing in the 5000m, 10000m and the Marathon. This historic race schedule has never been tried by a female athlete at an Olympic Games. Emil Zátopek did this in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and won all three races. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Lasse Virén also contested all three events. This week, we will find out how Hassan does in this challenge. (Three years ago, Hassan raced in three events at the Tokyo Olympics: 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m.)
The availability and intensity of the coverage of the Paris Olympics and the excitement around the spectacle is incredible. The sports world’s focus on Paris is fantastic, and the multiple channels of coverage present an abundance of options for fans to consume these games. What is continuously made visible through broadcasting, streaming, and media is the dedication, commitment and hard work these high-performing athletes have put in. The repeated narrative is their drive to win and that single-mindedness and selfish focus are needed to achieve these successful performances. However, athlete stories like Siffan Hassan are also a refreshing aspect of major championship sporting events. Each of these athletes is a unique individual.
Image: Wix Media: Biking road race
I am a sports fan and enjoy watching different sports. I have been interested in cycling occasionally, and with Canadian Mike Woods being a top rider at the Olympics, I tuned in to the road race this week. (Unfortunately, Mike was not able to hang on the day.) First off, the fans lining the course were insane, and the race was somewhat exciting. However, I don’t understand cycling tactics that well. I know that pro-cycling is a team event with teammates working together to support a team plan. Also, I know the riders are constantly communicating with their support team through an earpiece, and the rider’s team monitors the rider’s physiological measures to quarterback the race. However, there is no pro-team support or radio communication in the Olympic road race to allow coaches to direct riders’ decisions. Therefore, athletes, for the most part, are making their own in-race decisions. This is an interesting dynamic. Athletes cannot rely on their team’s race analysis to obtain immediate direct information on race decisions and responses to attacks.
While watching the women’s race this week in the Paris Olympics, I could not understand the racing tactics of the women. Late in this race, two riders were ahead, and they worked together to keep their lead by continually changing leads, letting the follower have a short rest in the tremendous draft you receive at 40km/h. The leaders were being caught by two riders who were similarly working together. This was exciting! This was great racing and collaboration. I liked seeing this. Would they stay away, or would they be caught? Time was running out, and the kilometres quickly clicked by. Then, with a final big effort, the chasers got in site of the leaders, and the catch was imminent. What happened when the two chasers caught the two leaders baffled me. Thinking back to the unexpected winner of the women’s road race from Tokyo 2020 made me question whether something is going on in cycling that athletes have become too dependent on their coaches to tell them how to race. Has technology made them docile?
Tokyo 2020, Women’s Road Race
So, here is a quick sum of the women’s road race at the Toyko Olympics. Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria, an unknown rider, won the race. Anna, a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, escaped the peloton with an early breakaway group. The others in this breakaway were caught by the peloton; however, Anna remained ahead on her own. Without the radio contact, the peloton athletes seemed unaware of Anna. An unknown, amateur rider stole the race from a large, elite, professional field.
Paris 2024, Women’s Road Race
Here is what unfolded in the Paris 2024 race as the women raced towards the Eiffel Tower and the Pont d’léna finish line and the glory of a 158 km road race. With three kilometres to go, Kristen Faulkner rode away from the favourites with no response from this elite group. At this point, there are only a few minutes left to ride. Was the early sprint unexpected? What were the other three riders thinking? Again, this was a relatively new professional rider. Why was there no response? What was their thinking? Did they resign the gold medal? I could not understand the lack of engagement in this final segment of the race.
Later, I learned that Kristen Faulkner’s ride had some similarities to Anna Kiesenhofer’s Toyko win. Remember, Anna was an academic and amateur rider. Somewhat unknown, she stole the race. Although a pro-rider, Kristen has only been a pro for three years. Her story is incredible. Seven years ago, she graduated from Harvard and moved to New York to work full-time as a venture capitalist. She decided to take up cycling for fitness and recreation. (Kristen grew up in Alaska.) She learned how to ride in Central Park. Like learned — going around cones, balancing on a bike, shifting, and clipping into her pedals. Three years ago, when Anna stole the Olympic race in Tokyo, Kristen turned pro and won the first race she entered. Now she is the Olympic champion.
Drawing on her experience as a venture capitalist, Kristen has made calculated decisions, knowing the risks and rewards of success. Three years ago, she decided to go pro and left her full-time job. In Paris, Kirsten promised her pursuit teammates (track cycling team) she would only continue in the road race if she had a chance to medal. Two days after winning the road race, she rode with her teammates to win over New Zealand.
So, in back-to-back Olympic road races, unexpected riders won. These race winners seemed less reliant on technology and communication with coaches to execute their race tactics and make winning decisions successfully. In contrast, their professional competitors seemed passive and missed the “move.” When new technology is introduced into the sports network, its adoption is assumed to be positive and improve performance. However, technologies like heart rate monitors and power metres combined with radio communication have power that affects the stability of the network and often unintended consequences arise — like riders being ineffectual.
Image: Unsplash: Which way Home?
The question arises: does cycling need to re-think the use of technology and coach-directed racing strategies? Maybe not. If cycling fans are happy to have the big pro teams dictate how races will go and they continue lining courses nine people deep — impressed with what professional athletes can do — the industry-race complex will hold a status quo. And if athletes are happy to push their bodies and are willing to be treated like machines, then it will be only every four years that an unknown rider steals a cycling race. Further, every four years, a casual sports fan will be bewildered at how athletes — the pre-ordained best athletes in the world, Olympic athletes — can let a rider steal the gold medal without any fight. Well then, enjoy your perceived technologically advanced sport. I am happy to watch Cole Hocker and Keneth Rooks over in Athletics. These guys prepare and take risks, making their sport exciting. Oh, and Siffan Hassan. I am excited to follow her in the unique challenge she has decided to engage in.
End
By Alasdair Fotheringham, published August 4, 2024
Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's individual road race
Wikipedia
Bonus (Well, now I am looking like a Team USA fan. Note: Hassan is from the Netherlands:))
BY NICK REMSEN, Vogue Magazine, published August 7, 2024
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