He was crowned Winter Triathlon World Champion at the first attempt in Andorra two years ago, and Norway’s Hans Christian Tungesvik will be going all in for a second title this weekend, as Skeikampen hosts the 2023 World Championships in triathlon, duathlon and 2x2 Mixed Relay.
The 31-year-old endurance specialist is a veteran of multiple Norseman races, Ironman and marathons, who fell for Winter Triathlon when he realised the format was a perfect chance to switch out his least favourite swim segment for his first love, cross country skiing, while still ticking all his high-performance endurance boxes.
You can listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify and Google, and watch all Saturday’s action in the snow over on TriathlonLive.tv, with the women out at 10am CET the men from 1.15pm.
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“Preparations have been challenging,” admits Tungesvik from his Oslo home. “After the Valencia Marathon in December I caught Covid and felt really terrible throughout December and January so I was pessimistic about my chances of finding any shape for the world champs. But things have been going in the right direction and I actually feel quite well prepared.”
Good news for him, for Norwegian hopes of gold and, potentially, Elisabeth Sveum, Tungesvik’s partner when the duo stormed to the inaugural 2x2 Mixed Relay title in 2021, a format they clearly took to.
“The relay is super hard, but it’s also super, super fun, and cool to experience how much adrenaline and energy you get from being head to head in those close battles, and where things can really be decided in the transitions… it’s stressful, but really hectic and really fun.”
In a country where cross country skiing rules the sporting roost, but where a certain duo have been raising the profile of triathlon to levels never seen before, the future for the winter format looks promising. The 2023 World Championships and the sport’s profile in general will get a major boost with Saturday’s elite racing broadcast live on national TV.
Silver in tough conditions at his first national championships in 2021 behind the mountain bike specialist Oivind Bjerkseth set the Tungesvik train in motion. While the weather looks like playing more into the newcomer’s hands this time around, the new repeated format of run-bike-ski-run-bike-ski does inevitably blunt his secret weapon, cutting his ski segment into two and potentially limiting his chances to really gather some momentum.
“Going into Andorra 2021, I didn’t really know the other guys so I didn’t have that feeling of anyone being unbeatable. It was quite challenging racing 2000m above sea level so I went out quite conservatively but by the ski I was feeling comfortable, started to overtake some people and when I passed (8-time World Champion) Pavel Andreev I knew it was going to be a good day.”
When you have a ski leg that’s 10-12km straight, you have the opportunity to do some damage, quite a few seconds or even minutes. Now you don’t have the same ability that it’s 5-6km, but it’s the same for everyone who has one stronger leg. Plus it makes the competition more exciting!”
You can watch Hans and all the Winter Triathlon World Championship action from Skeikampen over on TriathlonLive.tv from 10am CET on Saturday 25 March.
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