A look at Paula Findlay and Kathy Tremblay
Both will race for Olympic glory on Saturday August 4.
Canada’s Paula Findlay and Kathy Tremblay will toe the start line of the London Olympic Games Triathlon on Saturday August 4 at 9 am local time (4 am ET).
Both of these ladies are flying under the radar, but make no mistake. They are tough, determined, hungry to bring home a medal, and they can run.
Findlay is looking to showcase her pre-injury winning form, and Tremblay wants to put her disappointing 31st place Beijing Olympic finish behind her.
If they are able to come off the bike with the lead pack, it will be nail biting time for all of us watching, but it will also put them in a great spot to earn Canada a medal.
Paula Findlay
Edmonton’s Paula Findlay’s injury woes have been well documented so we wont dwell on the negative and re-hash that here.
We do know that the spotlight and the pressure is off of Findlay, 23, and that could be a great thing. Prior to her 2011 ITU World Championship winning streak (Sydney, Madrid, and Kitzbühel), she was not on the radar either.
Ideally, she would have liked to test herself at a race or two prior to London, we did see her out for some pre-race fun at the Toronto Triathlon Festival, but she knows what she needs to do and we can be assured that her training addressed the demands she will have to face in order to run with the race favourites.
“I’m confident that I’m doing everything I can to be the best I can be. And that’s all I can do.,” said Findlay on a July 1st blog post. “Keep your Canada Flags handy. You’re gonna need them in a few short weeks when we’ll all be waving them high and proud once again.”
Canadians will certainly have those flags ready indeed.
Kathy Tremblay
Kathy Tremblay, 30, of Montreal, Quebec, is having a career best season.
With a renewed vigor for training and racing after being re-united with her coach Alex Sereno (she is also coached by her fiancé David-James Tache ), she placed eighth at the highly competitive ITU World Triathlon Series race in Sydney, then followed that up with her first ITU World Cup win in Ishigaki, Japan.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tremblay finished 31st despite swimming and riding with the lead group. She is running much better this time around and has learned her lessons from Beijing. If she comes off the bike with the leaders once again (which she fully plans on doing), look for her to seize the opportunity to grab a medal for Canada.
When she gets married to David-James Tache on September 1 in Aylmer, Quebec., saying her vows as the Olympic Champion would be so much sweeter.
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