Road to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Training Characteristics of a World Class Male Triathlete

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the scientific literature for reporting top-class endurance athletes training programs. This case study reports on the training program of a world-class male triathlete preparing to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. A macrocycle of 43 weeks is presented. The triathlete performed 14.74 ± 3.01 h of weekly endurance training volume. Training intensity distribution (TID) was 81.93% ± 6.74%/7.16% ± 2.03%/10.91% ± 6.90% for zones 1 (low intensity, <VT1), 2 (moderate intensity, VT1-VT2) and 3 (high intensity, >VT2) respectively. Pyramidal TID model is observed during the initial stages of the periodization and Polarized TID model is observed at the end of the macrocycle. The triathlete’s peak ⩒O2 was increased by 20% on cycling and by 14% on running. Peak power was increased by 3.13% on cycling test and peak speed by 9.71% on running test. Finally, the triathlete placed 12th in Olympic distance and 10th in Mixed Relay in Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.

Training characteristics and performance of two male elite short‐distance triathletes: From junior to “world‐class”

“…The triathletes showed increases of ≈20% in VO 2max over the seasons. Both triathletes achieved a high VO 2max (<80 mL/kg/min) value as reported for other top endurance athletes such as a professional cyclist (87 mL/kg/min), a world‐class triathlete (84 mL/kg/min) or elite marathon runners (81.0 ± 4.0) 8,9,44 . Both triathletes achieved a relative power value at VO 2max and at ventilatory thresholds slightly above that of U23 cyclists but below that of professional cyclists 29 .…”

“…In the 2019 season example, the TID changed from an HVT and a pyramidal distribution in the first weeks of the season to a polarized distribution, which was used as the main model from week 12 onwards. This evolution from a pyramidal distribution to a polarized one has been observed to be positive in other studies 9,50 . Filipas et al 50 found that the evolution from pyramidal to polarized TID in a 16‐week training block allowed to maximize performance improvements and some physiological variables such as VO 2peak, and a velocity at 2 and 4 mmol/L of blood lactate concentration in a group of well‐trained runners.…”

“…In addition, a lack of studies on the detailed training characteristics of other high‐performance male triathletes makes it difficult to compare our results. We only found the case study of a triathlete preparing for the Olympic Games 9 . This athlete, however, also belonged to the same training group, so the training methodology was similar.…”

“…6 Moreover, there is a growing interest in the sports literature in studies on successful training plans for top endurance athletes. [7][8][9][10] In this way, recent training data publications include three top 5 Giro d'Italia cyclists 7 ; the training preparation data for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games of a world-class triathlete 9 ; the training intensity distribution in world-class middle-and long-distance runners 11 ; and a finalist's training characteristics in the 5000 m world championships. 10 Aspects such as training volume, periodization, or taper strategies have been presented in these studies.…”

Does the Physiological Response of a Triathlete Change in the Use or Absence of Drafting?

“…In this line, training groups are often seen, in which athletes with different objectives, moments of the season, age, or even competitive level are mixed; training in situations far from those that can be found in competition. In addition, in most competitions there is little knowledge of the competition that does not allow either coaches or athletes to predict the final result [ 12 ]. To do this, the tactic or approach of the competition is used.…”