Canadian Olympian Brent McMahon set to call it a career … after one more world championship in Nice

He’s the oldest professional in the race, and, like the other 42-year-old pro competing here in Nice, this will be his last World Championship. And, like Jan Frodeno, Canadian Brent McMahon is also a two-time Olympian who turned to long-distance racing who is getting ready to move on to a new career after decades of being in the sport.

Triathlon is truly the only career McMahon has ever known. Since making his first national team as a junior, he’s been focussed on the sport.

“All I’ve done is triathlon,” he said during an interview earlier this week. “I’ve worked at a bike shop, a coffee shop and I’ve been a triathlete.”

As he prepares to move on to the next part of his life, McMahon has no regrets about his time in the sport.

“I’ve done pretty much everything I wanted to, and I’ve tried pretty much everything I wanted to,” he said. “I’ve done Olympics, Xterra, Super League, Super Sprint in Brazil, Ironman, half-Ironman and done well at it. I’ve had a good career and met lots of people … there’s not a whole lot more I need out of this.” 

McMahon is hardly kidding. He made his first Olympic team in 2004 (39th), and then was controversially left off the 2008 team for the Games in Beijing. He stuck with draft-legal racing for one more Olympic cycle to qualify and race at the Games in London (he finished 27th), then turned his sights to long-distance racing.

The success came quickly – he broke the eight-hour barrier in his first Ironman race in Arizona, and two years later went 7:48 to win Ironman Brazil.

Wisconsin

McMahon qualified for this Ironman World Championship last year when he won Ironman Wisconsin just days before his 42nd birthday. It’s a race that might arguably have been one of the best of his career, and truly embodies his strengths as a triathlete.

McMahon and Beals take first and second at Ironman Wisconsin

In Madison, on a cold, rainy day,  McMahon led from start to finish to take his fifth Ironman title. And, while he’s finished as high as ninth in Kona, that race in Wisconsin allowed him to utilize his strengths much better then he typically gets to at a world championship race.

“What I’m suited to for Ironman, and the reason that I’m good at Ironman, is that I can push myself for eight to eight and a half hours,” he said. “I don’t need anyone around me to be able to do that. Case in point, Wisconsin. I led from start to finish. No one around me. No feedback. I didn’t need anyone – I didn’t need to be in a group.”

“When you get to these competitive races, it’s not about that anymore,” he continued. “It’s about ‘who’s with the motor bikes, who’s in the front pack of 25 guys … you’re not doing an Ironman on your own anymore. My strength is not sitting in a group and then having a blisteringly fast run. For me it’s just not hard enough.”

Which is why, while initially disappointed that he wouldn’t have one more shot at trying to go after another top-10 finish in Kona, McMahon quickly realized finishing his career here in Nice wasn’t a bad thing.

“I’m excited about this Nice course,” he said. “You have to be a full, Ironman-distance athlete to do this course.” 

Patience and ownership

McMahon has long been renowned in the triathlon community as a class act, and it’s easy to see why as he answers the question of what he’s learned from the sport.

“I’ve spent my whole life in it,” he said. “I’ve gone from a teenager to a young adult to a business owner, having a partner, owning houses – all those skills and life skills were all formed and adapted from my job and the people around me.”

“Two things that are really important are patience and ownership,” he continued. “If you want to be successful, enjoy what you’re doing, and want to be respected for what you are doing, you need to patient. Becoming good at something takes time. And you need to own your pathway, and that’s the errors, the ups, the downs and taking ownership for the errors you make – not blaming other people.”

“I could have blamed Triathlon Canada for not going to Beijing,” he said. “And that’s what everybody else said, and what everyone else was angry about. But, at the end of the day, I took ownership in the fact that I needed a top-16 at the world championships and I didn’t do that. I came 17th, so they had the option, and I had to own that. Own it, accept it, and move on to getting better.” 

Long-time coaching relationship

McMahon has only ever worked with one coach – Lance Watson. The two have been working together for over 20 years, and that “ownership” concept has been a critical component to his success.

“There’s always been a partnership and an ownership in our relationship,” McMahon said. “We learned very quickly where my limits were and what suited me, and we learned that if we just communicate we get injured less and we get more performance and we get more consistent.”

Watson is here in Nice to watch this final world championship. As is McMahon’s partner, Carolyn along with a number of family members and friends. It’s a course that suits his strengths, so it’s not hard to imagine that the oldest man in the field could have his best Ironman World Championship finish.

In the end, it won’t matter how the day ends. McMahon’s enjoyed a spectacular career. And, whatever happens, you can be sure he’ll “own it, accept it, and move on to getting better.”