It’s the penultimate event on the World Triathlon Series and it’s one doozy of a race. With centuries old cobblestone roads, constantly changing course terrain and chilly waters, the WTS Stockholm will be anything but a coast before the Grand Final. Great Britain’s Jodie Stimpson and Jonathan Brownlee joined Sweden’s own Lisa Norden in chatting with a packed room of media on Friday. Here’s some highlights from the press conference.
Jodie Stimpson
On what she’s learned from Norden
“It’s not over until you cross the line. It was so inspirational to train with her and watch her race. Seeing her race in New Zealand and getting to see what level it takes to win a World Championship. She’s not only a great athletes, she’s a great person.”
Jonathan Brownlee
On his progressive success
“I think there has been a lot of small jumps. I got my first big win in London in 2010 and then last at the Olympic Games in your own country helps so much. I felt so much pressure and I don’t think I’ll ever feel pressure like that again. The press talked about it as if it was guaranteed we’d get a podium. I learned a lot from that. After that, things went on a bit easier. This year has been great so far. I want to be a World Champion. I know I only have two races left to do that.”
On beating his brother Alistair in Hamburg
“I knew he was fit and he’d be hard to beat, but I knew I had a chance to beat him. Coming down that finishing straight, he sat behind me the whole way and normally Alistair would not do that. I thought if he came past me, I’d stick my hand out.”
On the Stockholm course
“Everyone says Kitzbuehel is one of the hardest courses ever, but I think in many ways this is harder. It’s two hours long, there are some small parts for a big group to go around. On the run, it’s different with the cobblestones. It’s going to be a very, very tough race.”
Lisa Norden
On her success
“I think it’s just been a good run so far with how we’ve approached training and races. I’ve had some fantastic years, mind you this year I’ve refocused a bit to be energized for the next few years. I’ve missed the World Championship distance, but I wanted to see if I could do something longer.”
On getting sick before the 2012 Grand Final
“I’m not sure how i got sick. It was the toughest 24 hours of my life. After the Olympics, I realized I could be in the running to be World Champion. Everything was looking great leading up to the race. Then the night before we went out to eat and I felt sick after. I thought I’d just be sick once and get it over with, but it continued. At 4:00am, I called my coach and we went to the hospital to see what we could do to get my body in race form.”
On returning to WTS racing
“I’ve been watching these girls all year and it’s very inspirational. I’ve seen them all stepping up more, which is incredible for our sport, but it terrifies me to get back into it at this stage. But I’m also super excited. It’s my hometown, I like the course, it’s a tough course. It’s going to be the toughest speed session of my life, because this is my speed session.”
