Two runner-up finishes in two weeks – Sam Long is waiting to “crash”
American star is riding a "wave" right now, but he's ready for the racing and travel to catch up
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
It has been an amazing run already for Sam Long in 2024. He started his year off with a win at Ironman 70.3 Pucon, then took second at T100 Miami (pictured above) thanks to a stellar bike/ run combo that saw him go from almost being lapped out of the race to the podium. Last weekend the American took second at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside behind a resurgent Lionel Sanders, then this weekend he went from last to second at the T100 Triathlon World Tour race in Singapore.
Youri Keulen dominates T100 Singapore as Sam Long goes from last to second
Despite being four minutes behind into T1, Long was pleased with the first leg of his race.
“(It was an) excellent race,” he said. “Believe it or not, I was quite happy with my swim. I just paced it and focused on keeping my body temperature cool because if you get overheated there, it’s a long day. I’ve always been known for biking strong, but I didn’t really show that so much on the bike. I think my bike was still impressive and strong and I got myself into the race on the bike but it’s the run that I think I really showcased my strength and, to be honest, I was just having a super fun day out there and just in my own zone, in my own process, in the flow state. And it just all came together. I tried not to think about what the gap was. On the bike especially you got to see everyone twice per lap, right? So it’s very obvious. It really puts it right in your face how far back you are. But I actually said to myself: ‘Don’t look at how far back they are, just execute your mission and see what happens by the end of the day.’”
Adding to his deficit after the swim, Long also received a penalty for not leaving his equipment in his box in transition.
“I think on the penalty… It’s up to me on how to react to it. And I would say it didn’t break my momentum at all,” he said. “Well, there were two brief moments of panic. One was finding out I had a penalty. The second was figuring out where to serve the penalty because I wasn’t sure and then the third was actually when the two guys behind me came by when I was in the penalty like ‘Oh no, now I’m back in a race. I’m not even on the podium right now.’ But I just used it to compose myself and get the crowd pumped up and carry on with my day.”
Long admits that all the racing and travel are likely to catch up with him, but for now he’s enjoying the ride. Long will now head home to spend time with partner Lara Gruden and their son.
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“And I just want to say thank you so much to the city of Singapore,” he said. “I’ve received such a warm welcome and it’s been great to visit here and it’s a marvellous, beautiful city. So thank you guys. I’m living my dream. I’ve come way farther than I thought I would come. Well, I thought I would come this far, but it’s happened faster than I thought and to see the love that the crowd gives me just makes my heart warm and just makes me so happy. Of course to achieve an accomplishment like this, just twice in a month. It just makes me very happy and I’m riding the wave and don’t worry, there is a crash at some point. It’s probably coming in like 24 or 36 hours and then I will suffer for a little while.”
