Maurten meets Kristian Blummenfelt
Sometimes an athlete’s performances are so immense that a line is drawn in the sand. They find themselves standing alone, perhaps only momentarily, at the pinnacle of their chosen sport.
Right now, Kristian Blummenfelt occupies that unique position across triathlon’s varied disciplines. It follows an untouchable 2021 that included an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship win, and an astonishing full IRONMAN debut where he set the fastest ever time for the distance at the very first time of asking.
”Once you start winning, I guess, it’s easier to continue winning,” says Kristian. “You’ve already had that conversation with yourself.”
The Norwegian certainly has plenty of opportunities for those soliloquies — his voracious appetite for long training days is legendary. From early childhood, doing lap after lap at his local pool, through cold, hard running sessions during his cross-country days — training has been, and still is, his companion. Its volume growing and expanding with him and his ambitions. The result is a wonder of endurance and drive that may have found its natural home in the toughest of challenges.
“I think I’m more suited to longer distance, like IRONMAN,” he says.
“I have been doing tons of hours of training since I was a young kid. I guess, over the years, that has been building my capacity and energy system to be able to work steady and hard over many hours.”
Whatever the timeframe, Kristian steadfastly sticks to his motto of “Go hard or go home,” — with his Olympic gold medal-winning race in Tokyo as a perfect example. That effort — all one hour and 45 minutes of it — had been a decade in the making.
“It has been all about that Olympic gold medal over the last ten years. That’s what has been keeping me going and giving me the boost of motivation to push harder and go further,” he says. “You don’t really get many chances to race at an Olympic Games, and that makes it even more special to actually have achieved one of my dreams.”
When it comes to IRONMAN, Kristian’s backed up his reasoning that he’s more suited to longer distances — emphatically. Having already laid down a major marker to his competitors, he’s already thinking about how to go faster.
“There’s definitely more to gain in the bike and run, especially the run. I ran a 2:35 off the bike, but with a year of Ironman training hopefully I can get closer to 2:25,” he says. “The swim will probably be slower next time, as the swim course in Cozumel was an A to B swim, with good current. So maybe a 3–4 minute slower swim, and 10–15 minute faster bike and run combination.”
Do the math, and you’ll see that next year could be massive. A pandemic-affected calendar means 2022 offers the chance of a unique history-making narrative — becoming IRONMAN world champion twice in the same year. Not to mention an Eliud-style attempt to complete the first-ever IRONMAN in under 7 hours, complete with pacers and, naturally, prodigious amounts of Hydrogel.
“Oh, 2022 is going to be a big one! Double world championships —with St George in May, which is the 2021 IRONMAN 2021 WC, and the IRONMAN 2022 WC in Hawaii in October,” he says. “In between them, I have the Sub7 project.”
We here at Maurten — and, we imagine, every triathlon lover on the planet — cannot wait for next year’s battles and the showdown at Kona.
“Lava, heat, humid conditions, IRONMAN, coffee, and pizza. That’s what I think about when I think about Kona,” he says. “It’s a historic place for our sport, and I’m really excited to finally get my experience on the Big Island.”
Kristian Blummenfelt
Born: Bergen, Norway
Date of birth: 14 Feb 1994
Favorite Maurten product: DRINK MIX 320
Training hours per week: 25–35 — depending on the week
Hours of sleep per night: Min. 8 hours with a nap during the day
Favorite place to train: Cozumel!
Early bird or night owl: Early bird