Coach Dan Lorang before the Ironman Hawaii about the chances of the defending champion Anne Haug and the self-doubt of the world champion Jan Frodeno.
Mr. Lorang, where are you seeing this year’s Ironman Hawaii?
I flew to Hawaii on Sunday to follow the women’s race live on Thursday, but then I have to fly back the day after because I’m about to open the season with a Bora-hansgrohe cycling team. Of course I want and have to be there again. So it will only be a short trip.
Complaints are increasing among athletes that the costs for entry fees, flights, accommodation and meals at this year’s Ironman Hawaii have exploded. 10,000 euros are often no longer enough to make your dream come true. And if you don’t come in at least tenth place as a professional, where there is prize money of 11,300 euros, you’ll probably have to pay more. How do you perceive this debate?
In fact, prices have doubled. I’m lucky enough to be staying with friends. Of course you want to be there in Kona because it’s simply the long-haul event, but of course you ask yourself how much you’re willing to invest. I find it extreme, especially for the age groupers, how much money they have to pay to take part. The prize money for the pros is also not in relation to the costs. That’s a big criticism.
The price explosion has not only to do with the energy crisis, but above all with the fact that after the canceled races in 2020 and 2021, almost 5000 people are now starting.
Yes. If you booked early, you could get accommodation for 1500 euros per person. If you were relatively late, you had to pay 15,000 euros for a week for the same apartments. That’s huge: it’s double the number of people on the island. Demand determines supply. Hawaii is just trying to profit from the Ironman. Since the prices rise immeasurably. I’m really critical of bringing double the number of starters to Hawaii. The myth thrives on the fact that it was something very, very special to be able to compete in this race. Why doesn’t it stay like this?
Do you think it’s good that for the first time in the history of the Ironman, the women’s start was brought forward two days?
Rather not. For me it was appealing that everyone started on the same day. Professionals and amateurs, women and men. It remains to be seen whether the women will really generate more attention in their individual race on Thursday. Now that’s hard to estimate. If there really are numbers like ratings, I’ll be happy to be taught.
Anne Haug starts as the defending champion. You’ve known the 39-year-old since 2007. What can you expect from her on Thursday?
I can definitely say that she is in good physical and mental shape, even if it will be extremely difficult to win this race again given the level of performance. She is willing to risk everything. Anne gave everything in preparation for this.
Is their experience an advantage?
She finished third in 2018 and won in 2019: she definitely knows how to get on the podium. It copes well with the extreme conditions because it is quite small and light, which helps with aerodynamics on the bike and when running.
Is she in a better mood than Lucy Charles-Barcaly, who you look after and is ten years younger than you, and for whom you also have performance data?
I have to be neutral, I can’t answer that (laughs). Even if nobody believes me: I don’t even compare them. I’ve never done that because I see every athlete as an individual. It is well known that Lucy is the better swimmer, slightly stronger cyclist and Anne is the stronger runner.
How often do you actually see your triathletes?
Actually hardly, that’s also the big disadvantage of our cooperation. The last time I saw Anne was at Challenge Roth, but before that it was extremely rare. We write, we call, we skype – I can read a lot from their feedback through our long collaboration. As soon as the athletes get home, they upload their training: I can see every wattage, every kilometer, every heart rate. You have a plan from me that you have to complete – and it will be fulfilled 99 percent of the time. I evaluate this data and give feedback, which of course is all embedded in a team. I can’t do technique training while swimming. Otherwise, I always get feedback from the physiotherapy at the Olympic training center in Saarbrücken or from Bayreuth. Of course, that’s never the ideal situation, but it’s the only condition under which I can look after triathletes at all, because my main job is with the cycling team. As long as that’s okay with Anne or Jan (Frodeno, editor’s note), I’ll do it.
How problematic is it in long-distance triathlon that only two full competitions a year are seriously possible. So everything is geared towards a day when the mind and body have to function. Can this be trained at all?
You can certainly work on getting your performance under pressure to the point. However, if you talk to ten triathletes, you realize that there are ten different ways. To be honest, I’m lucky because Anne, Jan and Lucy are all competitive types: when they’re at the starting line, the race mode is on. That’s why Jan has worked with sports psychologists from time to time to have exactly this focus – if he doesn’t win, he’s lost for the public. Dealing with it for years is a great art.
To person
Dan Lorang , 43, is one of the most successful coaches in triathlon. For a decade he has been looking after the three-time Ironman world champion Jan Frodeno, who is missing from the Ironman Hawaii due to injury, as well as defending champion Anne Haug and the British Lucy Charles Barclay, both of whom are among the favorites in the women’s race that started on Thursday. Lorang is a sports scientist, worked from 2013 to 2016 as a national coach at the German Triathlon Union before the Luxembourger joined the German professional cycling team Bora-hansgrohe as a coach, where he now does his main job as “Head of Performance”. (hel)
How much is mentality in an Ironman and how much training?
The basis is the training. If you don’t do your job, you can’t get enough out of your head either. But there are now very many who know what to do. And you can get a little bit of that out of your head in a competition. The mentality is very important in an Ironman because the preparation is extremely challenging. You have to love triathlon: If you don’t have a clear and ready mind, you won’t succeed in this sport.
The pandemic has messed up triathlon even more than in other sports: two conditions in Hawaii were cancelled, many suffered from motivation, but apparently not from Anne Haug.
In fact, she’s had fewer problems because she loves exercising so much. She likes this process of working on her body to get better. Competitions tend to be stressful for them. That’s why Anne was able to deal with the Corona period very well.
Do you also have to encourage Anne Haug to take a break from time to time?
That happens automatically after the Hawaii race: After that she will take a deep breath for a week, but she wouldn’t like it if I gave her a four-week break. She is the first to ask: ‘Can I get another plan now?’
You can’t win an Ironman in swimming, you can only lose it. Hardly anyone rides everything on the bike anymore. So the marathon decides. Is the trend right?
You now have more knowledge than before, you can check your power meter at any time. Anyone who once chased a Norman Stadler on his bike for ten kilometers soon exploded. Nobody risks that anymore. That’s why more tactics are used on the bike than in the past. You often don’t see the performance that would be possible because everyone is aware of the consequences for running. I don’t expect either the women or the men to break out really far when cycling.
Jan Frodeno has had three operations on his hip for a so-called Morel-Lavallée lesion. Before that, he had partially torn his Achilles tendon and suffered broken ribs in a fall with his bike. How is he?
The surgeries all went well, but it was extremely tough for him. He was very down and certainly close to ending his career. When he knew that he would have to have a hip operation, at least the pressure to still be able to participate was gone. Now it’s about getting another perfect year. That’s why he came to Hawaii (among other things as a TV expert, editor’s note) to get plenty of motivation for his last race in 2023.
Can he add another title to his unique career or will it be a backdoor farewell?
He loves sport, training, life with it – it’s like Anne, although the two are otherwise very different characters. Jan maintains a lifestyle that is designed for triathlon. A champion doesn’t just want to step down. If the body lasts another year, it will go through another year highly motivated. At the Challenge Roth he showed his swimming and cycling form again.
Can Sebastian Kienle or Patrick Lange extend the German winning streak since 2014 or will Norwegians Kristin Blummenfelt or Gustav Iden change the guard this weekend?
The Norwegians have delivered fascinating performances. I know the two boys. If none of them get sick, fall or get a flat tire, it’s going to be extremely difficult to beat them. If they confirm their previous achievements, there will probably not be a German winner. But Sebastian and Patrick have so much experience with this race that they can surprise. Especially in Hawaii.
Blummenfelt not only wants to win in Hawaii, but also at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the short haul. Many speak of a Norwegian endurance miracle, because cross-country skiers and runners are also world leaders. Do you recognize a system behind it?
There has to be an overarching explanation because a small country’s dominance cuts across multiple sports. I know that the individual Norwegian sports associations exchange ideas very closely. Cross-sport concepts have been developed there, in which knowledge is constantly shared. When it comes to the latest findings in training science on endurance performance, Norway has been at the forefront for five to ten years. I remember well a conversation with their coach Olav Aleksander Bu in the Sierra Nevada when he told me about the goals – what comes out of it now is not a product of chance. It helps, of course, that sport in general is very important in Scandinavian society. And anyone who talks to the Norwegian triathletes quickly realizes that they devote their entire lives to sport – and are happy with it. Everything seems to be going well at the moment.
Interview: Frank Hellmann
