The Agony of Victory

Like Hemingway’s Paris, a triathlon finish line is a moveable feast. While the line itself remains fixed in time and space, its place in our memories, dreams and reflections can be carried in our souls forever. And as clear as it may seem, there are many ambiguities and alternate definitions for that elusive line. For the unlucky, the finish line of their day comes cruelly soon thanks to a crash, a penalty, illness or simply cold water. The time taken to get there can certainly be relative. It took Walt Stack 26 hours in 1981, just 8 hours and 4 minutes for Luc Van Lierde in 1996. But if you calculate all the time it took for the dream to grow and gestate, race day is just the tip of the iceberg for what may have been a 10-year odyssey. Thanks to the physical, mental, emotional and soul struggle required to cover the distance, emotions are deep – and often ambiguous to the casual observer. Two time champion Chrissie Wellington was crying and quite overcome after winning her 2008 title. She won it by 15 minutes, so why couldn’t she take it in stride? Almost overcome by the heat, Barb Lindquist looked out on her feet, eyes rolling back in her head like a knockout victim. Certainly not the happy winner of a $50,000 check at Life Time Fitness. Dimitry Gaag crossed the line in Montreal a World Champion, but looked like he just got shot in the leg, thanks to a hamstring pull. Hamish Carter looks like he just got KO’d by Muhammad Ali, not a 2000 Olympian. Peter Kropko didn’t get a gold watch for his end of his noble career at Kona, just his own tears revealing the depth of his love for Madame Pele’s demanding charms. Sometimes, even a 6-time Ironman champion like Bella Comerford puts in a full day’s work in the hot sun and only gets a tomato face for her troubles. But even though triathlon may bring its practitioners a sort of transcendence once the day is done, often as not the pain is overwhelming, as the gentleman from Australia can attest.

So after looking at all these images, the old Wide World of Sports motto — The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat – seems confusing, turned on its head and upside down, like Picasso’s cubist masterpieces. Isn’t it the Agony of Victory, the Thrill of Defeat?

The finish line can come bitterly early, as this age grouper discovered with a twisted ankle leaving the swim at the 2005 ITU age group Worlds in Honolulu.

The finish line can come 100 yards short, as Chris Legh found at Kona in 1997. The next night, doctors removed 12 inches from his necrotic intestine.

Jarrod Shoemaker was in too much of a hurry to stop and barf, and so hurled his way down the homestretch to earn the first slot on the US men’s 2008 Olympic triathlon team.

Sarah Haskins and Great Britain’s Helen Tucker made a brave bike breakaway to leave the field behind at the 2008 ITU Worlds in Vancouver. Haskins gave the last full measure of her heart and came up silver.

At age 37, New Zealand’s Sam Warriner outdueled 2006 Under 23 World Champ Erin Densham of Australia for her first ever World Championship medal – the bronze at 2008 Vancouver Worlds

Kazakhstan’s Dimitry Gaag looks like he was shot in the leg as he limps across the line with a pulled hamstring to beat Simon Lessing and take the 1999 ITU World Championship gold.

Barb Lindquist had melted down at Sydney and Dallas to lose her 2000 Olympic slot, but held on with eyes rolling back in her head to win $50,000 top prize at the first Life Time Fitness in 2002.

A seemingly perfect illustration of ABC’s Wide World of Sports motto, “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.” But hey, that’s just style points. They finished Kona in a virtual tie.

Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal, 2007 World Champion and the winningest ITU World Cupper on the planet, found her Kryptonite was cold water, taking 10th at Vancouver.

Hawaii’s Cliff Rigsbee fights fires and wins a lot of Ironman Hawaii age group titles. This day in 1999, he looked like a light heavyweight who was out on his feet at the finish.

Hungary’s Peter Kropko capped an extraordinary career in Hawaii with a noble finish in 2005. Kropko fought for the lead in 1994, but his best Ironman was a 2:39 closing marathon in Switzerland.

Spain’s Javier Gomez comforts his longshot conqueror Daniel Unger of Germany, who lay stunned after his amazing come from behind win at the 2007 ITU World Championship in Hamburg.

New Zealand’s Ben Bright looks like a subject for a Matthew Brady photo of a slain Civil War soldier. But he just gave 100 percent to finish 5th at the Sydney World Cup and nail down a 2000 Olympic slot.

Scotland’s Bella Comerford was beet red and dripping after finishing 5th at the 2007 Tri 101 race in Bradenton, Florida.

Two-time ITU World Championship silver medalist and future Olympic gold medalist Hamish Carter of New Zealand was out on his feet after cinching New Zealand’s third Olympic slot at the 2000 ITU World Championship in Perth, Australia.

Answered prayer: Hunter Kemper overcame career-threatening injuries to nail down his third Olympic slot with a clutch finish over archrival Andy Potts at the 2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon.

Sheila Taormina, who punched her ticket to Athens by winning a last lap duel with Laura Bennett at ITU Worlds in Madeira, Portugal, comforts Bennett after her rival lost the last US women’s Olympic slot to Susan Williams at Bellingham, Washington.

Chrissie Wellington is overcome with emotion after winning her second straight Ironman Hawaii title by a huge margin.

Hiroe Fukushima won the 1993 Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii. When she returned in 2000, she was sick and struggled to make the 12-hour cutoffs on the first two days. On the final day, she missed the honor of an official finish by just a few minutes after 320 miles of swimming, biking and a double marathon.

A stab of pure pain in the legs overcomes this Australian Ironman finisher in 2000.