Jan Frodeno‘s coach Dan Lorang says there is no time for emotions to get in the way ahead of ‘the last dance’ on Sunday, with the focus instead on doing everything possible to sign off in perfect and fitting style at the 2023 IRONMAN World Championship.
The German great is looking to make it four IRONMAN World Championship titles in Nice, to go with his Olympic gold medal, two 70.3 Worlds crowns and much, much more.
Lorang has been his coach ever since Frodeno started the move up in distance after London 2012, and we’ll be looking at the many highs – and a couple of lows – with him later this week. But for now it’s all eyes on trying to bow out in the grand manner at the end of his final full season as a professional.
‘We play with open cards’
And it’s clear talking to Lorang just how ‘all in’ they’ve gone on Sunday’s race, meaning it’s been a balancing act keeping Frodeno in prime form.
He said: “It was clear before going into the competition that we would try everything possible to get him in the best possible shape with every risk that entails. So you can imagine that it’s a day-by-day decision in terms of what you are doing and how far you can go.
“That’s why at the moment, all is good and it will hopefully be on point on competition day, but there have been some quite intense last weeks of working together. But yeah, you really appreciate every day of it.”
Lorang admitted that approach had been forged with Frodeno acting as the driving force, as he revealed: “I thought the first goal is to bring him to the start line and to make a good season out of it. And even if he would be, I don’t know, on the podium at all these races, it would be amazing.
“So I said okay, probably we go with a little bit more conservative approach, but for sure Jan is not stupid. He saw this and he really talked clearly to me and said no, that’s not what I want. I go there for winning or I will not go there. It makes no sense for me.
“And that’s where you have to respect your athlete – it’s not the coach’s career, it’s the athlete’s career. And if this is his wish and if we play with open cards, then that’s the way we go and that’s how we approach things.”
US Open a significant stepping stone
Frodeno’s PTO US Open victory last month, where he outclassed a stellar field, proved that policy was working and that he was back to his best after all the injury struggles the year before.
Lorang agrees, saying: “That was a big victory when you look at the field and also over that 100km distance. And the performance also was good. It was not that there was any luck involved – it was a strong performance and that for sure gave him a lot of self-confidence.
“Also as a coach, you get some confidence from this and I was just happy to see him winning in his last year.
“And, as I said, we will try everything to be in the same position on Sunday, but I think with that win in the pocket already, you can also enjoy it a little bit more now. He has shown already that he is still there. So no matter what happens on Sunday, he showed that he can still win in a world-class field. And I think that’s something really special.”
Remarkably, Lorang also revealed that even leading into the US Open, the bigger picture was very much based around Nice, explaining: “I can tell you that the week before the US Open he trained for 35 hours, which for sure is not the normal thing, but we knew we wanted to be ready for Nice, we wanted to test some stuff and that was how it was.
“But he took that decision and I helped him together with the whole team, not only me.”
‘We know this is a challenge’
As well as overcoming various injuries and the fact that Frodeno is now 42, the pair were also thrown another curve ball just under a year ago when it was confirmed that Nice and not Frodeno’s beloved Kona would be the venue for the men’s race for the first time this year.
“For sure we were not the happiest people when that was announced,” says Lorang. “Because we knew that Kona suits Jan really well, he’d showed that already three times. And Nice, with more elevation on the bike and with longer climbs could probably be better for smaller, lighter athletes who can on one side save some energy going up these climbs and, on the other, also be fresher for the run.
But we took up the challenge and focusing on it. Jan is living in Andorra now so already has to do a lot more climbing than he has in the past.
“So we looked at this particular course and also made some improvements around that. He’ll be in top shape on the start line but nevertheless we know that this is a challenge – we have to try not to lose too much time in the uphill sections by doing strong downhills and flat parts because there are sections which will be more to Jan’s advantage.”
Harnessing the ‘positive energy’
In terms of the emotions heading into the race, Lorang is resolute, explaining: “Yeah, we spoke a little bit about it, but also we try to just focus on the race itself and not too much on the emotions, because that could be a danger.
“If you’re thinking all the time that it’s the last race, if you put too much energy there, I think you already feel sorry for yourself before you start. For sure, Jan also thinks a little bit about it but he approaches for what it is – a World Championship on the line and afterwards is when I think there will be a lot of emotions.
“But at the moment it’s more about thinking, okay, how can I get the best recovery? How can I do the best training session? Is this enough? Is this too much?”
And so the big final question is can Jan bow out in the best possible fashion, with a win?
Lorang thinks the packed streets for the four-lap run that rounds off the race – and Frodeno’s pro career – could work both for and against his athlete.
“I think the really tough guys who are good at motivating themselves when there’s no-one around could be at a disadvantage now because at every point you’ll have spectators on the run.
“And Jan is one of those who mentally are really strong. But also he’s good at turning things around. So for sure he can also use this positive energy from spectators to push himself even more than he could without.
It should be an amazing atmosphere and sport is as much about the fans as the athletes.
“I also think that everybody knows what he’s done for the sport. Jan has been there for such a long time now and I think he’s done a lot for triathlon and people are just thankful for that. He’s really helped it become so much more professional and brought it just to another level.
“So that’s why I think nobody would be angry if he can win this World Championships. I think then everybody would just say chapeau, really well done. But if he doesn’t win, that’s also not a big surprise, people will accept that. So I think no matter what happens there, he can always pick something good out of it and people will be behind him.”
