Not All the Great Athletes Are in Seoul--Some Are Over Here

You tell me that some of the world’s finest athletes are competing in North County Sunday, and I ask: “Why? What are they doing here? “

You see, I was under the impression that the world’s elite athletes are gathered in South Korea. The obvious conclusions are that either these people really are not such skilled athletes or the Olympic Games are missing something . . . or somebody.

Naturally, this was a situation I thought would be worth investigating.

Who are these people?

And what do they do?

Let’s start with what they do.

At 6:45 a.m. Sunday, not exactly my idea of prime time, they jump into the Pacific Ocean at the foot of Encinitas Boulevard. And they swim 1,500 meters.

OK, they are swimmers.

And then they what?

They climb on bicycles and pedal halfway to Del Mar and back, and then turn inland and pedal uphill and back for a total ride of 24.8 miles.

So they are swimmers and bicyclists?

And then they switch shoes and run 10 kilometers in and around Encinitas.

Whew. Must be an all-day deal, traveling almost 32 miles by sea, cycle and foot. I assume they pack lunches, make a few beverage stops and maybe plan for a nap on the beach. If they are lucky, they might even be done in time to catch a little National Football League action . . . a 1 o’clock game, of course.

The fastest men will be done in how much time?

One hour and 50 minutes?

And the fastest women 10 minutes later?

These people are athletes. Can you imagine Matt Biondi or Janet Evans jumping out of a pool and then onto a bike for a 24.8-mile ride followed by a 10-kilometer run? Or how about Said Aouita swimming 1,500 meters and cycling for 24.8 miles before running the 5,000? How many baseball players or golfers can you imagine swimming 1,500 meters? How many thumbs do you have on your left foot?

These people are a unique breed called triathletes, and they are essentially back to the birthplace of this sport when they compete in the San Diego Bud Light Triathlon Sunday.

No doubt, the best of these people should be in South Korea, and the best men and women of the 1988 U.S. Triathlon Series are competing here. In a sense, we get a look at people who would be in the Olympics if only their sport was.

About 50 professionals will be in an expected field of 2,100, including the top 6 men and the top 4 women. A golf tournament with the top 6 money winners in it is usually called something like the U.S. Open or the Masters. That’s the caliber of the fields here.

So why aren’t these people in Seoul? Why are table tennis, archery and fencing in the Olympics and the triathlon is not?

One reason is that this sport does not cubbyhole very easily. There is swimming, but the athletes are not just swimmers. There is cycling, but the athletes are not just cyclists. There is running, but the athletes are not just runners. Thus, the triathlete does not fit easily into any National Governing Body’s domain.

Another reason is that the triathlon is in its infancy as a sport. The date of birth is considered to be “circa 1974” . . . the place of birth being Fiesta Island, San Diego’s haven for the off-beat athletic endeavor.

The folks who run the Olympics like to take the long view that a sport had better prove it has some staying power before it gets invited to its party, lest we turn on the television and see something like Olympic hula-hooping or telephone booth-stuffing.

In truth, triathlons now seem rather firmly entrenched on the athletic landscape. The Bud Light series, for example, has grown from an initial 6 events in 1982 to 11 this year.

And the Olympic hierarchy is interested.

In fact, representatives of 2 other multi-discipline sports--the modern pentathlon and biathlon--met triathlon advocates in Stockholm last month to discuss what might be done to get this sport on the Olympic agenda. Further meetings are scheduled for Hawaii during next month’s Ironman World Championships.

With luck and good sense, the triathlon could make the 1992 Olympics as an exhibition sport and earn a permanent niche for 1996.

If the Olympics are truly a celebration of the best and brightest in the world of sports, these triathletes should be in Seoul right now . . . and not here.