How Matt Reed Saved His Own Olympic Slot - and Three for the U.S. Men
All’s well that ends well for Matt Reed and the U.S. men in their quest for priceless 2008 Olympic slots.
After his thrilling finish-line sprint that edged out 2000 Olympic champion Simon Whitfield for fifth place at last weekend’s International Triathlon Union elite world championship, Reed singlehandedly vaulted the American men to a safe fifth place in national Olympic qualifying points.
With only eight nations earning three Olympic starting slots, the U.S. men were spared the ignominy of being reduced to just two Olympic slots – a fate they faced just a month ago when Canada stood fifth Switzerland sixth, Australia seventh, Russia eighth and the U.S. on the outside looking in at ninth place in national Olympic qualifying points.
Much like Hunter Kemper did in 2000, Reed single-handedly preserved the U.S. men’s Olympic honor by traveling the globe and racing his brains out, knocking down Olympic qualifying points on multiple continents in a frantic last-minute push.
By doing so, newly minted U.S. citizen Reed also defended the second American men’s Olympic slot he thought he'd already earned by winning the Olympic Trials event in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, April 19.
Had the U.S. men remained in ninth place in national Olympic qualifying standings and thus earned only two Olympic slots, USA Triathlon Olympic qualifying rules would have voided Reed’s ticket to Beijing and knocked him back into the mix with Hunter Kemper and Andy Potts for the final round of U.S. men’s Olympic qualifying at the BG World Cup Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, June 22.
THE 25,000-MILE JOURNEY TO OLYMPIC VALIDATION BEGINS IN GRAVE DOUBT
While Reed’s finish-line sprint at Vancouver was thrilling, it paled in comparison to his come-from-behind clutch performances climbing up the Olympic points qualification ladder OVER the last seven weeks.
After The ITU World Cup in Tongyeong, South Korea, early this spring, the U.S. stood a shaky eigth place in the Olympic nation’s qualifying, just 53 points ahead of the fast-rising Russian men.
In the complex formula devised by the ITU for national Olympic qualifying, the nations are ranked by the position of the athlete with the third-highest points total – not in World Cup standings, but rather in the usually obscure national Olympic qualifying points standings.
After Korea, Hunter Kemper, because he had lost much of 2007 due to career-threatening injuries, was the third-ranked American in that criteria. His 2,359 points represented the U.S., which stood eighth in the points, 53 ahead of Dmitry Polyansky and the Russians.
But because Kemper was still recovering from the lingering aftereffects of his 2007 injuries and wanted to rest up for his last shot at Olympic qualifying in Des Moines, he would play no part in the defense of the three slots for U.S. men this time around.
At that moment, Reed, who had lost nearly all of 2006 to a devastating bout with glandular fever, stood well back with 1,833 Olympic qualifying points and things looked dark for the U.S.
Reed, who had raced hard and won three races in the previous month – at Miami, in the high-pressure cauldron of Tuscaloosa and at St. Anthony’s big non-drafting classic – had his work cut out for him. The only thing he was sure of on his lonely long-distance crusade was that his frequent flyer miles would go through the roof.
Flying 8,000 miles to Richards Bay, South Africa, Reed lost a thrilling sprint to the finish with 2007 ITU world champion Daniel Unger. But his second-place finish earned him 463 Olympic qualifying points. With his seventh-place finish at Richards Bay, Russia’s Polyansky advanced his points total by 188 after throwing out his previous lowest result of nine allowable races.
This moved Polyansky ahead of the inactive Kemper by 140 points – 2,499 to 2,359 – and pushed the U.S. back to ninth place in the standings. Reed’s rapidly rising total advanced to 2,304 – 195 points behind Polyansky – and it became clear Kemper would stay out of the fight while Reed would carry on alone.
Two weeks later in freezing rain at the Madrid World Cup, Reed’s 2008 hot streak of three wins and one second place finally cooled off a little as the travel wore him down. He scored a 10th-place finish there, earning 248 points. Polyansky took 15th and once he threw out his previous lowest points performance of 125 points, his net gain was only 42 points. However, Russia’s fourth-place man in national Olympic qualifying points, Ivan Vasiliev, scored a 463-point second place, advancing him from 1,880 into close contention.
At the same time, Olivier Marceau’s strong finish at Madrid seemed to put the Swiss men into an unstoppably safe fifth place, and the Canadian men were also seemingly in the clear in sixth place. Due to an unfortunate crash in the freezing rain, third-ranked Aussie Brendan Sexton did not finish and gained no points.
SET-UP FOR THE FINAL SHOOTOUT
Going into the final round at the ITU world championship in Vancouver, the men’s points chase – with all relevant performers - for three Olympic slots looked like this:
FIFTH: Switzerland - Second-ranked man was two-time Olympian and 2000 ITU world champion Olivier Marceau with 3,031 points. Third-ranked male was Reto Hug, 2005 ITU world championship silver medalist, with 2,991 points.
Outlook: Seemingly untouchable
SIXTH: Canada - Third-ranked man was Kyle Jones with 2,729 points. Close behind Jones was fourth-ranked man Brent McMahon with 2,689 points.
Outlook: Possibly vulnerable if disaster strikes
SEVENTH: United States - Third-ranked man was Matt Reed with 2,587 points.
Outlook: Points differential between the U.S., Russia and Australia was less than 100 points. With double points at stake at Worlds, and a guaranteed 1,000 points and a possible 1,200 points available for the winner, the fight for three Olympic slots would come down to a bitter match race at Vancouver.
EIGHTH: Russia - Third-ranked Russian Dmitry Polyansky had 2,564 points. Fourth-ranked Russian Ivan Vasiliev had 2,343 points.
Outlook: While the over-raced Polyansky had to throw away 150 points before counting up his score from Vancouver, Vasiliev was a red-hot threat for the podium and the likely man to beat.
NINTH: Australia - Third-ranked Brendan Sexton, thanks to his calamitous crash and DNF at Madrid, was stuck on 2,507 points.
Outlook: The proud tri-nation was in dire jeopardy of being demoted to two Olympic slots unless Sexton could beat the Russians or Reed. However, there was a wild card. Greg Bennett, who was nominated for the third Aussie Olympic slot but who lagged too far behind in national Olympic qualifying points to contend on that front, had another avenue to Beijing. If he scored a podium finish, Australia would be automatically bumped up to three Olympic slots.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FINAL ROUND
U.S.: Reed’s clutch fifth-place finish earned him 763 national Olympic qualifying points and bumped up his total to 3,319 points, vaulting the U.S. men from an on-the-bubble seventh to fifth.
“The first lap of the run I was a little worried,” said Reed. “Polyansky was a guy I had to look for, and he ran to the front. And Greg Bennett ran to the front. If he had gotten a podium, he could’ve knocked us out as well. Then he dropped off. So I was running with Polyansky and I knew I could out sprint him at the end.”
When it was over, Reed’s fifth-place finish was his best in eight world championship appearances and the best U.S. men’s finish since Brad Kearns’ fifth place in 1992. Reed’s fifth-place finish at Worlds tops the best finishes by Hunter Kemper (seventh) Simon Whitfield (sixth twice) and Andy Potts (10th).
Switzerland: Reto Hug’s third place earned him 856 points and bumped him to second Swiss man. Olivier Marceau’s dispirited 29th place earned him just 113 points and dropped him to third-ranked Swiss man. Marceau’s total of 3,144 points put the Swiss men in sixth.
Canada: Since sixth and ninth places were claimed by Canada’s first- and second-ranked men, Simon Whitfield and Paul Tichelaar, it was up to Brent McMahon and Kyle Jones. Jones earned no points for his 61st-place finish, but McMahon’s 17th earned 287 points, advancing the Canadian third-place total to 2,976 points, leaving the Maple Leaf crowd in a safe and honorable seventh place with three men going to Beijing.
Russia: Both Ivan Vasiliev and Dmitry Polyansky gave it their all, but they finished seven and 13 seconds behind Reed, 10th and 11th overall. Polyansky’s 459 points earned in Vancouver minus roughly 140 for yet another throwaway, left him Russia’s third-ranked man with 2,883 points. Russia thus stood in eighth place and earned three Olympic slots for the very first time.
Australia: Australia Fair ended up ninth and did not advance. Greg Bennett came into Vancouver not fully prepared, made a brave run to the lead pack with Gomez on the first lap of the run, then faded far out of the necessary podium finish to validate his Olympic team nomination. Sexton, like Vanessa Fernandes and many others, was daunted by the cold swim and lost a chunk of time in the first transition fumbling with his helmet and shoes and missing the lead pack. Despite a good run, the best he could do was 37th – and this proud triathlon power will have to settle for two Olympic slots for Brad Kahlefeldt and Courtney Atkinson.
* Final points allocation for the final round will be adjusted upward based upon quality of field. The following points calculations were made based upon the guaranteed points table for world championship events. None of the ultimate standings between the countries will be affected.
