World Triathlon

2009 has been a testing year for Javier Gomez. After a difficult start to the season, the 2008 World Champion looked to be hitting form going into last weekend’s race in London. However, a crash on the bike forced him to quit the race and now the Spaniard has just two legs of the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series to try and claw back Alistair Brownlee’s lead.

Interview courtesy of Triathlete Europe

How are you feeling following your crash in London?
Well it’s good, my legs are perfect because I didn’t run so I’m quite fresh. With the other problems it’s pretty uncomfortable. It’s really bad to sleep and with this warmth and humidity it’s definitely not very good. But it was good to have two to three days off out of training, I think I could recover well and I feel quite good out of training. You never know until the race but I feel alright.

Did you have to do much rehabilitation to get yourself ready for Yokohama?
No. It’s just burns so you just take care of the wounds with things to dry them out. I had some pain in my wrist but now I’m completely fine so I can run well. I started swimming two days ago and it was a bit…yeah…but I can do it so I hope I can race normally at the weekend.

Did the crash change the way you approached this race?
Yeah, it changed things a bit. Because I didn’t finish London so I needed quality training this weekend which I did on Wednesday and I feel pretty happy with that. Obviously now I’ve got a bit of pressure because I need another result – I need a fourth result before the Gold Coast so I must finish the race and try to get a good result.

How do you deal with things like jetlag leading up to a race?
It’s not easy. I think it’s more difficult when we travel to the East. It’s a pretty big time difference – seven hours from Spain – but it’s alright. It was worse maybe last year in Beijing. It took longer to get used to the new time, but right now it’s okay.

What do you do to relax between races?
I always read and always take books. I chat with my coach, friends and girlfriend and I always try to learn things about the new place where I am. Japan is an amazing country – so different from Europe so it’s always good to go out and take a look at things.

What’s your plan following Yokohama?
We go straight to the Gold Coast after this. We’ve got three weeks training there. It’s a good place to train and to get used to the new venue for the next place.

Finally, sum up your season so far.
At the beginning it was bad. There was injury and a lot of problems. Then I was just getting to my best shape and I had this crash in London so I hope to show my level here.