2021 Triathlete of the Year: International Men

We’ll round out our Triathlete of the Year awards with the most obvious of them all – it’s hard to imagine there’s much of an argument for giving the “International Men’s” award to anyone other than Kristian Blummenfelt.

“It’s a new era” says Kristian Blummenfelt as he chases two Ironman World Championships in 2022

The 27-year-old Norwegian enjoyed a magical season that started with a bang at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Yokohama, followed a week later with a win at the World Triathlon Cup Lisboa (a day after he almost got his Norwegian team a spot for the mixed relay at the Olympics). Then there was his huge win in Tokyo, followed a few weeks later by a sprint-finish win at the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Edmonton.

Technical issues derailed his hope to follow that world title up with another at the 70.3 worlds in St. George, Utah, but Blummenfelt would round out his season with a record-setting day at Ironman Cozumel and another impressive win at Clash Daytona.

After his huge 2021 season, Blummenfelt has an every-bit-as-ambitious 2022 season planned – he’s looking to take both Ironman titles (St. George in May, Kona in October) and rack up a sub-7 hour full-distance effort as part of the Sub 7/ Sub 8 project.

Brownlee, Charles-Barclay, Blummenfelt and Spirig to chase sub-7 and sub-8 in 2022

There’s no two ways about it – 2021 was a magical season for Kristian Blummenfelt. And he’s looking for more in 2022. It should make for a fun year.