Episode three of Dare to Dream: The Next Move is released on Wednesday 20 August at 8pm CEST (2pm EDT), and stars double Olympic Mixed Relay medallist Morgan Pearson as the man on a mission to find clarity and calm in the wild waters of T100 racing.
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Opening with a quick-fire tour of his Colorado home, the USA men's number one Morgan Pearson takes a beat to assess his new-found position as one of eight Hot Shots contracted for the second T100 season. There may have been a few raised eyebrows from some of his fellow pros when he was announced for the tour, but a fastest swim and run in Vancouver showed he is well at home. As well as where he needs to make progress.
“I swam growing up. I ran growing up. I didn't bike growing up. I didn't get a bike until 2018 when I started triathlon. So it is pushing me to be a better biker, there's just no doubt about that when you're racing these guys.”
“I wasn't really sure at first (about the Hot Shot contract)… it's gonna be really high level racing, you know, these guys are just absolute animals. I thought about it for a few days and I was like, ‘this is what I wanna do. I want to be really out of my comfort zone’.
Pearson namechecks the achievements of the other Hot Shots, the inevitable comparisons both by himself and his peers, something that has at times hindered his ability to find consistency at the highest level. And that is in spite of being the first American male on the teamsheet for the past two Games.
“Hayden Wilde and Leo Bergere are coming off Olympic medals, so of course they definitely deserve it. And then Vince, he's a legend of our sport, so he's definitely someone who's deserving. Maybe I'm a bit of the wild card or like the X factor with the Hot Shots.”
'You know, two Olympic medals, two different Olympics. I don't even know if that was my dream, that probably exceeds my dreams when I first started in 2018. So there's a lot to be grateful for.”
After the impact of the passing of his brother in March 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Pearson talks of ‘giving himself a pass’ for a disappointing individual result at Tokyo 2020, mental and physical exhaustion taking a toll. After a torrid time on the bike course, his 31st place in Paris, however, clearly cuts deeper, even having achieved that second relay silver medal.
“Tokyo was a tough pill to swallow… but I think Paris… I'll be honest, that race will probably haunt me the rest of my life.”
So perhaps inevitably the episode keeps coming back to the immense mental and physical demands of the sport. One of the fastest runners on the WTCS and now T100 circuit, finding that rhythm at the end of 82km of swim and bike is the next challenge.
“Overthinking is a huge part of racing, especially for me. Not just the running, biking, and even swimming… I think achieving that flow state and achieving that point where you're not really overthinking, you're just trusting your instincts… and that those instincts are also the right decision… that's ultimately like the place where I like to be at in a race.”
And then there is again the habit of comparing himself to the rest of the field, putting himself under pressure at the WTCS level, and a pressure that is less apparent – at leats for now – in his early T100 races.
“I can think of so many races where it's just like, you're running with guys and I'm like, why is this guy here? I'm just faster than him… then all of a sudden you get tight and then things feel harder than they should.'
“I also think what it might help is my mindset. When I do a WTCS I put so much pressure on myself it can be a bit crippling at times. And here I am just a beginner, racing for seventh, eighth, and not being happy, but excited with the progress and excited to see where this can go. I think that mindset is a healthy one.”
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