OTC triathlete Kemper gunning for fourth Olympics
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- Created on Friday, 06 May 2011 19:21
- Written by Brian Gomez
BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE
The questions from his doubters constantly blare through his head, capturing his attention like an alarm clock at his bedside. And Hunter Kemper refuses to hit the snooze button.
“Can Hunter get back there?” Kemper envisions his harshest critics asking in reference to the Olympics. “Is he healthy? Is he going to be healthy for long? Can we rely on him?”
For the answers, simply look at his results, insists the Olympic Training Center triathlete, fresh off a long-awaited landmark victory last month that bolstered his world ranking and positioned him as the American man to beat for a berth in the 2012 London Games.
Winning on the World Cup circuit for the first time in six years, Kemper, 35, completed a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40k bike and a 10k run in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 32 seconds in edging Artem Parienko of Russia and Marek Jaskolka of Poland for $6,500 in Ishigaki, Japan. He’s one of six U.S. men scheduled to race Sunday at the next World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico, joined by Olympic hopefuls Jarrod Shoemaker and Matt Chrabot, of the OTC.
Every time Kemper, the only American man in the world championship series rankings at No. 31, toes the line, it’s preparation for a WCS event Aug. 7 in London that serves as the first Olympic qualifier. The U.S. expects the maximum of three men at the Olympics, and any American in the top nine in London is guaranteed an Olympic ticket. The remaining Olympic spots will be awarded after a 2012 race that hasn’t been set by USA Triathlon.
Kemper has appeared in all three Olympics in which triathlon has been contested, placing 17th in 2000, ninth in 2004 and seventh in 2008. Yet his body has taken a beating the past three seasons, as he was hampered by a sports hernia in 2008 and a sacroiliac joint injury in 2009, and in 2010, he suffered a stress fracture in his pelvis and broke his collarbone.
The triumph in Japan showed that Kemper is still capable of being dominant, still capable of rekindling the magic that carried him to two Pan American Games medals, six wins at the elite national championships and a No. 1 world ranking in 2005. There’s no disputing his ability to put down the hammer on the run, with a 31:12 split that enabled him to pull away on the second of three laps and overcome a 50-second deficit following the bike.
“When I’m injury free and I can do the proper training, I have confidence in my abilities to beat the best in the world and to be the best in the world,” said Kemper, a Wake Forest graduate who owns four World Cup titles. “I never lost my confidence in knowing I was good enough to do it. … It’s not like I’m an athlete that has to do something miraculous or go outside the box in order to actually win these races. I have the tools to do it.”
Kemper stressed that his experience, not his notoriety – he was the first triathlete to grace the cover of a Wheaties box, in 2007 – will give him the biggest advantage in pursuit of a fourth Olympics, an almost unattainable feat in an endurance sport. Peaking for the first Olympic qualifier is “going to ultimately be the goal,” Kemper said. “Have that race be it. Focus on that. … Don’t leave any doubts. Let it be done just right then and there.”
Even as Shoemaker and Chrabot continue to grab the headlines, Kemper dubbed himself “the best U.S. guy as far as my talent level and what I can do,” adding he’s certain if he “can get to the level of fitness that I can get to, that I can be on the Olympic team. … If I can be healthy and get to the start lines, I think I’m going to have a great deal of success.”
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