For a country with such a proud history in the sport, Australia has endured a considerable dry spell when it comes to bringing home Olympic hardware in triathlon, especially on the men’s side.
No Australian man has ever won an Olympic medal in triathlon, whilst the last medalist on the women’s side was Erin Densham at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
This year, however, in the form of short course star Matthew Hauser, there is hope. Catching up with the Queenslander after a brilliant season in 2023, we heard all about his plans for Paris.
“Summer training has been cooking”
Looking back on last year, Hauser took us through some of his best moments, with a maiden World Triathlon Championship Series win in Montreal a big highlight.
[Photo credit: World Triathlon]
“It would have to be winning in Montreal [his best moment of 2023], I felt like it was one of those days where everything came together.
“Also qualifying for my second Olympics in Pontevedra. The crowd provided the best atmosphere I’ve ever raced in.”
On the other hand, the 25-year-old said that his biggest lessons came from WTCS Hamburg, where he finished just off the podium in fifth place.
“Lessons learnt were definitely in Hamburg on how to manage myself in between rounds, given it was some of the hardest and most intense racing I’ve done with high quality competition.”
Since the end of the season, Hauser revealed that he had been making the most of the Australian summer, with training coming along nicely ahead of the start of the season.
“Summer training has been cooking, humidity has been at large here in Queensland so fuelling effectively has been important.
“I’ve been really consistent with my conditioning and also introducing new aspects to training like Pilates and a structured S&C program.”
Wollongong offers exciting chance to race on home turf
Sharing his early season plans, Hauser said he will start the year in March at WTCS Abu Dhabi before flying back to Australia to compete on home soil.
[Photo credit: Darren Wheeler That Cameraman / SLT]
“I’ll start my season in Abu Dhabi and then come back home for our World Cup in Wollongong. It’s exciting to have World Triathlon racing back in Australia ahead of the World Champs next year.
“There will be a few more races in before the big one in July and then the Super League circuit after that.”
Having already qualified for Paris thanks to his performance at the Grand Final in Pontevedra last season, the Hervey Bay native pointed out that he can now be a little more purposeful in his planning for Paris.
“It certainly means I can be a little more strategic with my race choices for the first half of the year. I’ll get a good mix of training blocks at home/Spain and competitive race exposure to make sure I’m ready to fire come Paris.
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