BBC Wales was recently visiting our training camp to prepare this story about Non Stanford moving to our #JFTcrew Squad. Check out the video interview here
My @BBCNews report from Fuerteventura on @NonStanford's renewed Olympic hopes under @joelfilliol... pic.twitter.com/sVM6fkBHSL
— Tom Brown (@tombrownsport) February 4, 2019
"He seems to have an incredible rate of no injuries and consistent performances"
— Tom Brown (@tombrownsport) February 4, 2019
Little snippet of the web feature as @NonStanford explains why she chose @joelfilliol's #jftcrew... pic.twitter.com/n9CJYQrX3J
Check out this podcast interview with former #jftcew athlete Gregor Buchholz, the interview/english part starts at 9 min 30 seconds: #27 Real coaching mit Joel Filliol
Links:
“*Joel’s thoughts on Tokyo 2020 and the qualification processes
*Which triathlete has surprised him the most over the past two years
*Why a change in coaching set-up will propel Non Stanford forwards.
*Why he’s not surprised the Brownlees have struggled with injuries in recent years.
*The biggest mistake Age Group athletes make. ”
Joel joined Helen Murray on the Oxygen Addict Podcast for an engaging chat:
http://www.oxygenaddict.com/podcast/2019/1/28/216-joel-filliol
Follow the journey throughout the year with the JFTcrew and get some coaching insight from Joel Filliol. Today's session, easy run with a few 30seconds strides.
with Vincent Luis, Mario Mola, Marten Van Riel, Jelle Geens, Delian Stateff, Aaron Royle, Non Stanford, Angelica Olmo, Anna Maria Mazzetti, Emma Jackson, Vendula Frintova, and Drew Box.
A quick video capture from run sessions with strides and a build run in January 2019 at our camp in Fuerteventura.
Katie Zaferes and Vincent Luis winning Super League Malta 2018
The introduction of the Super League Triathlon in 2018 has created a new and interesting dynamic in triathlon and I was asked some thoughts on the new series and format, along with some the other coaches involved in the supporting athletes racing the series - read the article here
“Joel Filliol is one of the worlds best known and established elite level coaches, with Katie Zaferes and Mario Mola currently amongst his athletes. He began coaching in 2000, inspired by triathlon’s inclusion in the Olympics, he developed in the wake of Canadian success. He has a firm grasp on what is required to be an SLT athlete. “One thing that has become clear is the requirement for endurance, the fitness, the conditioning, and the kind of robustness to finish the weekend well. Obviously, it’s fast and furious racing, but you need the conditioning to finish the job. You’ve got to be very fit, have resistance to fatigue, and you can’t have weaknesses – on day two can you back it up across the disciplines? Those athletes that have prepared well, and have a good level of conditioning to start with, along with being able to manage the race, will ultimately be successful.”
The first week back on camp at Playitas on Fuerteventura has started. As the December camp also held at Playitas started the official 2019 season training, we are now settling into this second block of work, which forms the basis for the specific work to lead into the first races of the season. How well we manage this period really forms the foundation for a successful season.
“There are two ways to achieve extraordinary outcomes:
1) Be lucky.
2) Be obsessed.
Most people need some combination of both.
However, only one of those factors is within your control. Work hard, stay focused, and let the chips fall where they may.” - @james_clear
Big moments in 2018 (L-R):
1- WTS overall podium sweep - an unforgettable achievement by @jakebirtwhistle @mariomola and @vincentluistri Getting the little things right often enough, over a long enough period, with so many factors at play from March to September. Super proud of the way the everyone worked together through the year even with each other among their biggest competition.
2- Gold Coast podium shot, adding @kzaferes6 to the shot plus the core support team of Pepe and @drew.box who worked behind the scenes to support the process.
3- Montreal WTS Mario with a huge run to take the W, brilliant.
4- Back in Mallorca again at the @viva training for the final races of the season, from superleague, to the final world cups of the year with Vince @martenvanriel @deliostateff and @alessandrofabian working together.
5- Flagstaff Arizona, coming back to the base we used prior to Beijing 2008 and supported by @hypo2sport It was great to be back on the track.
6- Going into the Grand Final with both #1 from the crew, there is nothing like that experience going into big races where the margin of success is so small, and knowing the number of things that have to go right to deliver the biggest performances. It never gets easier, and the level of internal and external expectations has to be learned and managed in order to consistently be among the worlds best. It’s something you have to experience to know what it means and how to best manage all the factors.
7- Jersey @superleaguetriathlon , coming off the back of big performances like Gold Coast can be really challenging due to the extra amount of energy ‘defending’ performances requires, but Katie and Vince were superb and delivered over the challenging format.
8- Back in Flagstaff Arizona - with @jellegeens and Vince supported by Drew, hitting a classic session of mile reps in the build up to the Grand Final.
9- Les Angles France - back at one of our favourite training locations, doing a ‘dam’ session. With the track in Font Romeu closed this year, we did all the sessions on the dam instead and got some dead turn running practise.
Overall it was a huge year of performances with 18 WTS podiums, 2 CWG medals, and World Relay Championships medalists. More than the performances, I’m grateful for the experiences with the crew, going through the trial of miles and miles of trials with committed people, who find joy in the everyday process and who lift each other up makes it all worth it.
On top of my work with the crew, my work with the Federazione Italiana Triathlon has taken big strides and finding the pathway forward in a new environment, and opening new athletes to the #jftcrew process has been both challenging and rewarding. Driving culture change is never easy, however from struggle comes reward and those who take the opportunity to struggle and grow will move towards finding out what is possible, without limitations.
Thanks to all for sharing in the process and I look forward to continuing to seeing what 2019 brings and keep on trying to be better everyday, week and month through the year.
Sarah Barker of Deadspin.com has written an article on doping in Triathlon with some quotes by Joel -
“Why does the triathlon, an Olympic event since 2000 that combines swimming, cycling, and running, appear to be so clean?
A quick search of “triathlon” in mainstream publications like USA Today or the Wall Street Journal returns not a single story, not even a hint, about performance enhancing drugs. The same cannot be said of track, swimming, or cycling, where you don’t have to be an insider to get the impression that many top-level performances are PED-assisted. Those sports have had enough revelations of widespread doping, bribery, and coverups that most breakthrough performances are suspect.”
““We just haven’t had a scandal recently with the power to blow up the issue,” Filliol said via Skype from his home base in Glasgow, Scotland. “So, we’re speculating, like we always do, but it would be naive to assume otherwise. That’s where sport is right now. As far as why we [in triathlon] don’t have more positive tests, it’s the same with all sports. From top to bottom in the anti-doping movement, there are incentives not to find [athletes doping] because it looks bad for the sport.””
Read the full article on Deadspin.com for more quotes and perspective on the issue of doping in Triathlon