Moments in Tri

Note: I was going to title this entry "Moments in Tri-me," but I thought that might be just a little too much.

We have some pretty amazing moments in our sport, captured on video and preserved for posterity. Most famous? The 1982 Kailua Kona Ironman where Julie Moss collapsed 30 yards from a first-place finish.


The drama of this moment catapaulted the sport into the public eye, prompting millions (just kidding; at that point, there were probably only a couple thousand crazies) to internally ponder, "I wonder if I could do that."

Great moment in the sport. No question about it.

Then there's the Dave Scott/Mark Allen "Ironwar" of 1989 (and I know that the commentary on these is inane and annoying; sorry).



You guys might already know that I really enjoy watching the ITU World Cup races; it's a great way to take in the sport as a spectator (because Ironman isn't terribly spectator-friendly). My favorites to watch are the battles between Vanessa Fernandez and Emma Snowsill. Example:




No doubt about it; the visual stimulation to our triathlon sensibilities is pretty well fleshed out, electronically speaking.

Now you wanna see my favorite moment, the greatest moment ever in triathlon videography?



Now doesn't that make you want to hop out of your seat, a little? Doesn't it make you pull up your calendar and check again how many days/weeks/months you have until your next event?

Isn't that kind of excitement what it's all about?

I love this video because it captures so completely the reason I still do this crazy sport. It's exciting. "How many minutes to go? Two? EEEE!" It might be the challenge, the bombastic, "Heck, I can do that if she can!" attitude that drew me to the sport in the first place, but it's that intense excitement, the endless attention to detail to eke out every bit of speed and skill, the constant nitpicking and readjustments to training the schedules, the sleepless nights before a race . . .

That's what keeps me in this sport.

Do you have a favorite moment in triathlon history, be it video, audio, print, or personal? Share in the comments!