Olympic triathlon champion Nicola Spirig is preparing for her fifth Olympic Games. She could win her third Olympic medal in Tokyo. Although the pandemic has postponed the Tokyo games, the important things in her life have not changed, says the mother of three, who prefers to train in the Engadin.
Athens, Beijing, London, Rio: Nicola Spirig (38) has already competed in an Olympic triathlon four times. She won gold in London and silver in Rio. After the birth of her third child, she began preparing for “Tokyo 2020” in 2019. Spirig once again put everything on the “Olympia” card. Then came the pandemic and with it the great uncertainty.
“The postponement of the games to 2021 was a relief,” she remembers. As long as it was not entirely certain whether the games would still take place in 2020, she had to continue her training at full intensity. “Not everyone understood that back then. The pandemic called everything into question, many were worried about their work and health and I went to train. But I'm a pro. That is my job.”
Spirig then took time to make the decision to compete in Tokyo in 2021 as well: “I'm not doing my sport alone. I can only approach a company like the Olympic Games if my family, my coach, my sponsors and my entire environment are involved.” It was only when it became clear that everyone was back, that Spirig's Tokyo adventure could begin for the second time.
“When the kids are sick, I just sleep less and then still go out to train.”
Spirig's husband Reto Hug was once European champion and vice world champion in triathlon himself. In 2012, he retired from competitive sports and founded a family with Spirig. He now looks after the now three children and, together with his wife, has been organising the 'Kids Cup by Nicola Spirig' since 2014, a newcomer series for children between the ages of five and fourteen.
“Without Reto, I wouldn't even have to try to remain at the top of the world,” says Nicola Spirig about the importance of her husband in her career and family. “When I know that he is at home with the kids, I feel good about going to training.”
The job of a triathlete may be unconventional, but Nicola Spirig sees herself as no different from other working mothers. “The pandemic has changed a lot of things, but the important things in my life have remained the same. In the past, everything in my life was subordinate to sport, today the children are at the top.” Son Yannis (7) now goes to school and so the training plans are sometimes organized around the timetables.
“And when the kids are ill, I just sleep less like any other mother and still go out to work out.” The “Corona summer” 2020 also brought many changes for the Spirig family. The schools were closed, so Yannis did his lessons at home. “But we had the advantage that I mainly trained from home because the training camps in the south and most competitions fell into water anyway.”
Since there were also many sponsorship and media commitments, Nicola Spirig had more time for her family. A very valuable experience: “We were able to do a lot together. A lot of little things were there. Walks in the woods or short trips to the surrounding area. And for the first time in years, Reto and I were once again able to train together on the bike.”
“I miss the training camps and competitions.”
But the comfort was only short-lived. Anyone who has Olympic medals in mind must not slack off in training. The autumn break in Engadin was a family vacation for the children and a training camp with a family connection for Nicola. In the usual manner, Coach Brett Sutton put together a new program for Nicola day after day.
“Brett looks at every one of my workouts or wants detailed feedback from me. Only then does he decide what we will do the next day,” says Spirig. “With three training sessions per day, it becomes difficult to plan a vacation week in advance.”
Nevertheless, the family was able to do a lot together and enjoy their time together in the Engadin. In winter, the big challenge is to keep the intensity of training high, says Spirig. “I miss the training camps and competitions.”
By early summer, Nicola Spirig will probably be training primarily in the Zurich area and in the Engadin: swimming at St. Moritz Sports Center Ovaverva, cycling on the roads between Champfèr, Silvaplana and Maloja and running on the 400-meter track and in the forests around St. Moritz. “There is no better place to run,” enthuses Nicola Spirig. “And the mountain climate is simply good for me.”
Tokyo, however, will be a heat battle. Up to 40 degrees and high humidity are expected. The exact opposite of the Engadin mountain climate. A heat camp in South Korea is therefore on the agenda before the games. She says she has decided to go all out for Tokyo once again, speaking about her ambitions.
For Nicola Spirig, all good things come in threes: three children, three disciplines and hopefully the third Olympic medal.
She doesn't know yet what will happen in her life after that: Tokyo would be her last Olympic Games, she says and laughs: “But I already said that in Rio.”
This text by Christian Gartmann has already been published in the magazine “Active Alpine Lifestyle” by Corvatsch ski service published.
Christian Gartmann has been responsible for all of the magazine's textual content since 2017. The entire magazine is available online here.