Thompson Gears Up for Sunday’s Biathlon

Basketball coaches preach the transition game. Bo Jackson makes a hobby of transition. In a biathlon (similar to a triathlon, but without the swim), the transition is from running to cycling to running.

For biathlete Joel Thompson of Encinitas, life has been a transition. Thompson, 29, is one of the best biathletes in the world. Sunday morning at 7, he will be one of the favorites to win the Coors Light Biathlon, a 5-kilometer run, 30-kilometer bike and a final 5-kilometer run, in Balboa Park.

Growing up in Amarillo, Texas, Thompson could always run--fast and far. In high school, he was a sub-4-minute 30-second miler. In college, he ran a 30:27 10 kilometers. In 1980, as a 20-year-old, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon with a time of 2:21:34.

But running in a cross-country meet for Mississippi State, Thompson punctured the bursa (a cavity or pad between joints) in his left heel. After two operations, he stopped running for 3 years. Thompson switched to cycling.

Like running, Thompson excelled as a cyclist. He reached the upper echelon of cycling in 1983 when he received Category II status from the United States Cycling Federation.

Soon after, he took up running again and made the transition to triathlons. He also moved to San Diego’s North County because, “This is the hub of the sport,” Thompson said.

He moved in with Paula Newby-Fraser, the women’s 1988 Ironman winner in Hawaii, and Paul Huddle, who came in 15th in this year’s Ironman, and began training for triathlons.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that triathlons were not for him. It wasn’t that he was a bad swimmer, he just hadn’t been exposed to swimming in Amarillo.

Thompson recalls, “I was frustrated with triathlons, swimming in particular. I didn’t have the time to devote to swimming. I was already a good runner and a good cyclist. If I could just concentrate my focus on those two things, I felt I could be one of the best.”

Thompson’s quest has always been to be the best at something. “In high school, I wanted to be the best distance runner in the world. Now I want to be the best biathlete.

“Where I haven’t necessarily continued with the same sport, (my life) has been a pursuit of sport: to be the best at something.”

Being a biathlete was a natural and he has excelled. Ken Souza, 23, is considered the best now. But Thompson says, “He’s not invincible. He can be beat and so can I. Where I’ll be the favorite Sunday (Souza is injured), I’m still going to have to have a good race.”

That competitive spirit and the love of sport are what stand out most in Thompson. Coincidentally, he works as an accounts executive for Competitor Magazine.

He trains 5-6 days a week on running and cycling. “It really doesn’t take as much training or time as people might think. It doesn’t have to consume as much time to where you can’t do anything else.”

You just have to be able to make the transition.