– I would not have imagined this a few years ago, smiles Jon Breivold. Six days have passed since the 27-year-old man only needed 9 hours and 23 minutes to swim 3.8 kilometers in the Hardangerfjord, cycle 18 miles across the Hardangervidda and run a marathon to the top of the Gaustatoppen. The Norseman, which was first held in 2003, is known for its extreme trail profile and is often considered one of the world’s toughest triathlon competitions. Norseman trail The Norseman trail consists of 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, 42.2 km running: The race starts in the Hardangerfjord from a ferry into Eidfjord. The cycling stage then goes over Hardangervidda towards Geilo and on to Austbygde by Tinnsjøen. The race ends with a marathon to Rjukan and up to Gaustatoppen. The finish line is at 1,883 meters above sea level. To understand how strong the new record is, just take a look at the numbers. Because Breivold also set several records along the way. New stage records were set in both cycling and running. He cycled 180 kilometers in 4 hours and 43 minutes. Then he ran the marathon (42,195 metres) in 3 hours and 35 minutes. On the swimming stage (3.8 kilometers) he spent 58 minutes and 56 seconds. LONELY MAJESTY: In lonely majesty, Jon Breivold finished this year’s Norseman. Down to second place it was 24 minutes. Photo: Sebastian Torgersen – Class difference Sports director in the Norwegian Triathlon Association and former national team coach, Arild Tveiten, was impressed by Breivold’s performance. – A monstrous achievement, that’s it. – If you compare with him who came second, who is a very skilled athlete, and not least those who came third and fourth, who have won before, you can see how much faster he cycles and runs. There is a class difference, continues the sports manager. STAGE RECORD: The recent record holder also set a stage record in both cycling and running. Photo: Sebastian Torgersen The limit-breaking times become, if possible, even more impressive when the main character talks about injury issues, which in January, February and March occasionally prevented him from both running and cycling. – Well equipped – I’ve always thought about triathlon, and that I want to take part in Norseman. And that’s really what it started with, says Jon Breivold, before he continues: – I have a cabin along the trail, so I had seen it earlier and looked up to the group that came by. I think it looked really cool. It is true that Breivold has only been involved in triathlons for the past two years, but has long been well known on the bicycle seat. He has a background as a cyclist and managed to get several seasons as a semi-professional on Norwegian European Tour teams. He put the investment on the shelf already as a 24-year-old, but still he did not feel that he was completely finished with the sport. FORMER CYCLIST: Breivold was a semi-professional cyclist for four years. He rode for the continental teams Frøy Bianchi and Fixit.no. Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB Arild Tveiten says that his background in endurance sports, and the fact that Breivold is small and light, gives him an advantage in competitions such as Norseman. – He has a body and physiological characteristics that mean he is well equipped for that track. And it is quite clear that having a cycling background is a good idea right there. Dreams of a world championship In addition to a record time, Breivold’s goal is to qualify for the WC in Ironman. After he failed to qualify for this year’s WC, the 27-year-old concluded that it was due to a weakness in the swimming part. Tveiten agrees with the analysis and at the same time emphasizes that it is difficult to compare the performance in Norseman with the performance on the flatter courses in the triathlon World Cup and Olympics. And Tveiten knows what he is talking about. Student Kristian Blummenfelt, who became Olympic triathlon champion in Tokyo last summer, is both Ironman world champion and holds the unofficial world record for the exercise. IMPRESSED: Arild Tveiten is a former national team coach for Kristian Blummenfelt and the rest of the Norwegian team. Photo: Erik Johansen / NTB – What he will experience there is that it is a completely different level, and that he will not be able to use his strengths in the same way in other courses. He will also probably notice that swimming will be difficult for him, and that he will get out of the water ten minutes behind the others, says Tveiten. Nevertheless, he certainly encourages Breivold to try to qualify for the WC. – I think that he can manage to qualify for a WC, I think so. He has such good physical capacity, so he can probably handle it.
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