It remains an interesting point of triathlon history that the USA, birthplace of the sport, has yet to win a men’s individual Olympic medal in the seven editions of triathlon at the Games. Mixed Relay? Of course. Back-to-back silvers in two outings is a strong return, and Gwen Jorgensen’s triumph at Rio 2016 remains the high water mark in the country’s Olympic history in the sport. Will the next four years produce a US men’s medallist?
At last month’s WTCS Weihai, the top male American finisher was 23-year-old John Reed. Crossing the line in 15th, it was a result that sees him knocking on the door of the Series top 20, one place above none other than Kristian Blummenfelt. All of which suggests that Reed is the real deal.
On the latest episode of the World Triathlon Podcast, we caught up with Reed from his training base in Vichy, France, as he prepares for a final shot at the U23 world title at the World Triathlon Championship Finals Torremolinos. A medal there would be the perfect fuel for a huge Olympic cycle towards LA 2028, and the crowning achievement of a breakthrough season so far.
“Ryan (Bolton, John’s coach) and I were talking in the lead up to the race in Weihai, I think we both thought there’s potential for it to be really good. And he was like, ‘dude, if you end up in a situation with medalists to your right and medalists to your left, don’t back off, just be comfortable. You ended up in that position for a reason’. Obviously it didn’t happen, but that’s just how we entered into it and you got to fake it ‘til you make it!”
Watch the men’s U23 World Championships on TriathlonLive.tv from midday on Thursday 17 October.
Listen to the full interview with John Reed on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Building to the complete triathlete
“I actually have a swim background, which hopefully starts showing up sometime,” says Reed in typically self-deprecating fashion. He was just 30 seconds off the torpedo-like Matt Hauser after 1500m in Weihai and came out of the lake 9 seconds off mighty Mark Devay in Karlovy Vary. “I swam throughout high school and then didn’t really get recruited anywhere that I really wanted to go college-wise.
Then COVID hit and things took the twist that leads him to being in with a realistic shot of a U23 world title. “I was like, I’m pretty burnt out. I’m done with this. I wanted to stay relatively fit, so I picked up biking and I was trying to run a little bit.”
Inevitably a few aches and pains also had to be negotiated as he made the transition from pool to track. “Coming from just swimming, every other week it was just a different thing; shins, hips, ankles, whatever. But I really liked biking so I was just out on a super old Cervelo with a Walmart helmet and a sleeveless kit. And I just looked like an idiot probably, but I had a lot of fun. And then I went to University of Utah and my freshman year, honestly, just rode around a little bit. It was fun exploring Utah.”
“Then, end of my freshman year, I got plugged in with a coach out there, Wes Johnson, and he totally just immersed me into everything short course. I hadn’t swam in a year, and I was pretty horrific runner, and he built a team around and did a lot with biomechanics on my run and just developed and pushed me.”
From first starts to continental champion
From there it was a qualifier to get his elite license and within two years the continental title – elite and U23 – were his, confirming the arrival of a bright new talent. It was too late for Paris, though there were brief conversations about his availability as an alternate, but with LA 2028 on the horizon, the goal for the coming two years looks clear.
“Not that I was really in the mix, but just to I guess be in that conversation of, oh yeah, ‘maybe you could go to the Olympics as an alternate’ or whatever, it was just pretty insane.
“And, and I’m honoured to be a part of that, but yeah, hopefully I’ll just continue to build momentum. There’s a lot of good guys older than me from the US right now. And then there’s a lot of very talented and hardworking juniors and guys younger than me. It’ll be super competitive, but hopefully the guys that get to go really earn the spots and I want to… I hope we’re fighting for medals in LA… Home Games, we got to show up!”
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