Time to tune in to the triathlon

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For those who were locked to the TV all weekend, you may have not had time to catch up on one of the newer Olympic events, the triathlon. This is only the third Olympics for the triathlon event, comprising a consecutive 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run.

Last night’s women’s race was fantastic, with Emma Snowsill of Australia winning gold by over a minute over her competitors. The men’s race tonight should be equally exciting.

The Ming Tomb Reservoir, a recreational park on the outskirts of Beijing, has already proven a beautiful showcase for this race. It has been transformed in an environmentally friendly way, with a temporary removable track and road for the run and bike legs of the race that surrounds the reservoir.

For anyone new to the sport, and International Triathlon Union rules in particular, this is a very strategic race that’s more about competitors pacing and drafting each other on both the swim and the bike legs of the race. Typically, as was clear in Snowsill’s victory in the women’s race, the run is truly where the race is decided.

The men’s race will start at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Beijing or 7 p.m. Pacific time tonight, with 55 competitors from 31 countries participating. The dominant favorite is Spain’s Javier Gomez, who is currently ranked first in the world in this event and won the 2007 Beijing world cup race. While Hamish Carter of New Zealand, the 2004 gold medal winner is not competing tonight, both silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and bronze medalist Sven Riederer of Switzerland are expected to be top contenders. The 2000 gold medalist, Simon Whitfield of Canada, also will be back targeting the podium.

The U.S. is fielding a strong team of Matthew Reed, Hunter Kemper (the first ever triathlete to be featured on the cover of a Wheaties box) and Jarrod Shoemaker. A native Kiwi but a U.S. citizen, Reed will be competing against his brother Shane, who will be racing for New Zealand.

Others to watch include: Britain’s Tim Don, the 2006 world champion; Australia’s Brad Kahlefeldt; New Zealand’s Kris Gemmell; Australia’s Courtney Atkinson; and France’s Frederic Belaubre, who won the Beijing world cup in 2006.

As with the women’s race, you won’t find a live NBC TV broadcast of the event, but you can see live streaming video on its website. For the diehards, you can catch a re-broadcast of the men’s race on USA Network at 5 a.m. PT Tuesday (or set your DVRs).

I’m hoping that my experience watching online will be a bit smoother tonight, and would recommend that anyone intending to watch get set up early and be prepared to handle a bit of “buffering” on the video in the first few minutes. Additionally, live text updates and splits will be available online at www.triathlon.org, which is helpful as there is no commentary along with the video.

And now off for some energy gel and sports drinks to get in the mood…

-- Elisa Nye