firstoffthebike.com - Features

Chrissie Wellington - moving on, for now

It should be no surprise to anyone that Chrissie Wellington has pulled the pin on season 2012. Triathlon has always been a stop for her en route to other endeavours. Which is not to say that Wellington disregards what she has achieved in the sport there are just other things she wants to get involved in.

Wellington is omn the move again with another phase of her life starting. And again we are not saying that this is a. the end of her career or b. she will gloss over this period of her life. We have been fortunate to have had a few chats with Chrissie over the last four seasons and they have always pointed to the fact that she would call it a day (for one season at least) when it suited her not the sport. It is the Seinfeld theory, to quit (again for the moment) while you are on top. Chrissie leaves the sport on her sabbatical on top of the throne and with that platform behind her for any new endeavours. "But for me, I’m passionate, interested in so many different things, and I don’t think it’s that I’ve got a short attention span, I think it’s more like I crave new challenges. And those new challenges come in different areas, whether it be travel, whether it be academia, whether it be work, whether it be volunteering or whether it be sport. And I need to do all of those – I need to have done and to still do all those different things in my life, and triathlon is just a part of that. And I will move on and I will do new and different things. "

Chrissie has also never been one for records. While she has graciously accepted the plaudits that have followed her career, for Chrissie, her newness to the sport made her someone who did not have milestones and record books of the sport on her mind as she was breaking them. And this was because Wellington was not a career triathlete, her approach into this sport was refreshing as she wasn't a tri clone. She entered the sport when she was 30.
"Well, there’s this obsession in our sport with records, with times, with X number of races won. To be brutally honest, it’s not important to me. I’m not an incredible historian of the sport… So it’s, yes, it’s not important to me to retire when I’ve won X number of victories or achieved X time."

You also got the impression that Chrissie might go on to do anything. Such is the depth of her drive and talent the sporting platform may only provide the forum and name recognition for other things.
"So I’ve worked within big politics and I’ve also worked for non-government organisation in small politics, in politics with a small P, lobbying government on policy change. I don’t feel that you necessarily need to work within the government machinery to be able to affect change. I mean, we’ve got Jamie Oliver in the UK. Through what he did a few years ago, he catalysed a huge change in school dinner provisions in the UK, basically by lobbying the government and exposing how unhealthy the school dinners were. So, you know, as a sports person, you can have an incredible impact from outside the government, just by lobbying, just by raising awareness, by garnering public support on certain issues."

So what does this mean for the sport? Race to race not a lot. Chrissie raced only sparingly throughout the year and although when she did the tri world was on the edge of their collective seats watching. We'll miss her in Roth but come October this decision to step aside for a year will mean everything. The scramble now for the women to get on the start line and have a realistic chance of winning just grew. Leanda Cave, Mirinda Carfrae Caroline Steffen et al must all now come into contention. And this will provide a great build up to Kona but one can't think if Chrissie was there she might have been caught finally? The same thought might have also passed through the minds of Road Runner aficionados too as they thought one day it too would happen.

For now, we will all have to wait. Ask the women pros and they will tell you they want her in the field. Like all elite sportspeople the chance to beat the best is the pinnacle of sports. Chrissie's exploits on the course lead to this wonderful situation we have now where women's triathlon is in a great place both numbers wise and performance wise.

What we will miss is her integrity when she raced and her speed when she was on song. Her openess in an interview was always intriguing. Chrissie never knocked us back for an interview and is diligent in her corespondence with the media (at least us!!). She was outspoken on many issues and represented her fellow professionals with a combination of intelligence and eveness. The sport of triathlon will miss her in 2012.

Quotes taken from previous chats with Chrissie