Triathlon’s Triple Crown 1988
I’ve already covered the Triple Crown from 1985, 1986 and 1987. In 1987, Triathlete (USA) also produced a Triple Crown Preview. But as I haven’t done one for a while, here is a Triple Crown Primer.
Triathlon magazine started using the term Triple Crown in January 1986. At the end of the 1985 season the USTS moved their final to Hilton Head. It had been in Bass Lake in 1983 and 1984.
This meant the most competitive races in the world (Nice, Hawaii and Hilton Head) were all with a few weeks of each other. And a lot of the top athletes would be racing all three.
I initially thought the use of the term Triple Crown was inspired by the Triple Crown Of Surfing, started in 1983. But it probably came from a series of horse races in the USA, dating back to 1919.
In 1988, Nice was on the 25th September, Hawaii the 22nd October and Hilton Head the 12th November. So a 7 week spread. In 1985, 1986 and 1987 the series had lasted only 4 weeks.
The beginning of the end for the Triple Crown? IMO definitely.
Nobody doubted that Nice and Hawaii were still the two most competitive races there were. But Hilton Head could now be contested.
In 1985 ETU started hosting Olympic Distance championships in 1985. And the level was building there. And the 1987 Perth unofficial-worlds and the 1988 nearly-worlds in Kelowna had stacked fields.
Finally. In 1989 Nice moved to June Hilton Head would have a controversial, draft-ruined, edition.
But here’s my highlights of the 1988 Triple Crown:
Only two athletes got top 10 in all three races. Scott Tinley (3rd in Nice, 4th in Hawaii and 7th in Hilton head) and Ken Glah (5th in Nice, 3rd in Hawaii and 4th in Hilton Head).
Some other impressive long / short doubles were: Colleen Cannon (4th in Nice and 1st in Hilton Head), Paula Newby-Fraser (1st in Hawaii, 6th in Hilton Head), Mike Pigg (2nd in Hawaii and 1st in Hilton Head), Laurie Samuelson (10th in Hawaii and 8th in Hilton Head), Mark Allen (5th in Hawaii and 2nd in Hilton Head).
Rob Barel was the first European athlete to win Nice. Barel past Nice results. Great bike. Really hanging on in the run. Already on podium. 3rd in 1985. Isabelle Mouthon would be the first European female winner in 1993.
There was great field in Nice. Except 5 time winner Mark Allen and 1987 winners, Kirsten Hanssen and Rick Wells. Paula Newby-Fraser, 3rd at Nice in 1987. All were focusing on Hawaii.
CBS didn’t renew their broadcast contract with Nice. This caused some sponsors to pull out. Rumors also suggested that owners IMG were losing interest in the event. Was the end in sight?
Nice increases the swim distance from 3200m to 4000m. This would be distance used in 1989 and then through the 1990s.
Scott Molina had some administrative problems in France. I won’t go into details here. But everything is in this video.
Erin Baker was back in Nice in 1988. She won in 1985. And then got DQed in 1986. Was her absence in 1987 a boycott or a shadow-ban for critisizing the race? In 1988 Scott Molina was calling her training partner. Rather thatn girlfriend. BTW. This 2021 Babbittville video is absolute triathlon history gold.
Keith Anderson is featured in the Nice report. He was Mr Speedo in chapter 12 of Mark Allen’s book Total Triathlete.
Super-duathlete Liz Downing got 10th in Nice. Shocking swim.
Kirsten Hanssen had a fractured wrist and raced Hawaii in a cast. They joke about it in the first paragraph of the report.
1988 was the 10th anniversary of the first Hawaii Ironman. But actually the 12th race. Eight of the fifteen starters from 1978 had been tracked down and invited back.
Rick wells apparently didn’t train enough on aerobars before Hawaii. Strange. He’d had some SCott DH since mid-1987.
At the pre-race press conference in Hawaii it was announced that Dave Scott wouldn’t race due to a knee injury. Mark Allen and Mike Pigg became the new favourites with the bookies. Few journalists were betting on Molina.
Erin Baker was the women’s favourite after an excellent season. 1st at Gold Coast, Kelowna, Vancouver and Nice.
I remember being very happy at the time when Molina got his Hawaii win. He’d won so many races at all distances. Over 100 career victories I think. Of course, he won 4 consecutive USTS Finals (1983-1986) but never got a global Short Course title.
Great results for the British women. Sarah Coope was 3rd in Nice and Sarah Springman was 7th in Hawaii.
Yes, yes. Lance Armstrong was a big deal in triathlon from 1987 to about 1990. I’ve done one blog post. More to come.
Paula Newby-Fraser won Hawaii and the overall USTS. Has that ever been done? I’ll check. Maybe Dave Scott in 1982 and / or Joanne Ernst in 1985. Newby-Fraser needed to finish ahead of 1986 and 1987 winner Kristen Hanssen in Hilton Head to win.
In Hilton Head the race organisers sent Rick Wells out to test the severity of the current. They decided to flip the course direction. Hence the quick swim times
I was a big fan of Ivy-Leaguer Harold Robinson. He finished 3rd at Hilton Head. His body of work needs a blog post. I’ll do one on Hilton Head female champion Colleen Cannon too.
From the Hilton Head report.
“Mike Pigg convincingly defended his title at the Olympic Distance while putting everyone on notice that he is primed to win at Ironman distances.”
Yet he never did. Although he still did Ironman most years. Riding near the front. Not off the front. He also never did any other worldwide Ironman events.I’m trying to find a Molina-style Nike painter cap on ebay.
In January 1988, Coca Cola CEO Brain Dyson announced an increase in the Coke Grand Prix bonus pool. From USTS $40,000 to $125,000. Probably to lure back some big names that weren’t fully commiting to the series. I have all the race reports from 1988. So maybe that will be my first USTS season round-up.
I’m still not sure how the USTS points worked. I think you could do as many races as you wanted. And keep accumulating points. There were 10 events before Hilton Head in 1988. And Mike Pigg won 6 out 8 races he entered. St. Croix and Hawaii also counted.
Images:
Triathlete (USA) January 1989
Triathlete (USA) February 1989
