Is he is faster triathlete today (vs his 2000 Olympic win in Sydney)?

• Sydney’s Simon could not beat today’s Simon.
• His swim was too weak back then and so was his bike.
• He did an enormous amount of training to make that improvement and this was necessary to keep up with the evolution of the sport.

 The course in Beijing

·        A strength and fitness course (due to the hills and heat).

·        The fittest athlete will win.

·        His top end speed has re-surfaced from doing more reps/strength (slower/longer reps).

·        The site is 75 minutes out of Beijing so smog, etc., should not be a factor. He cannot do anything about the smog anyway so if it is there he will just have to deal with it.

Race tactics.

• The are 2 team leader spots (Paul Tichelaar and himself).
• Colin Jenkins is there to support both he and Paul.
• They need to be in the lead group coming off the bike.

His overall well-being.

• Things are going well now. His new family (13.5 month old daughter) is challenging but a positive influence.
• Fitness and preparation is there, and he is swimming, biking and running faster.

His DNF in New York.

• He just came off a huge training block.
• Looks at it as just another workout that he pulled the plug on. No big deal.
• Could be a blessing in disguise.

His apparent obsession with Javier Gomez.

• A joke that went a little too far. Contrary to what some might believe, he did not name his daughter after Javier’s mother.

Beijing.

• He is not going to the opening ceremonies. He will be watching from a bike shop in Victoria and eating Chinese food. He will be leaving for 
  Beijing 5 days before the race (The men’s race is on Monday August 18 at 10 pm Eastern Time and the women race on Sunday August 17 at 10 pm Eastern).
• The team is staying in a 2-story mansion 1 km from the race venue.
• Results - will be what they will be. Preparation has been great so what happens, happens.