Edmonton athlete is ranked 19th in the world
For someone trying to keep an even keel, Edmonton’s triathlete/electrical engineer Paul Tichelaar is making it tough on himself.
He is not only preparing for Olympic battle in China, he’s also getting married to sweetheart Lindsay Acheson Sept. 13.
“I’ve been home a total of six or seven weeks this year,” said Tichelaar with a tired but proud smile.
“I’ve got a very forgiving fiancée.”
Having been named to the Olympic team after finishing ninth in the world championship in Vancouver, Tichelaar’s focus now is preparing for Beijing’s scorching hot weather.
“With the pollution, there’s nothing you can do about that. I’m not riding up and down a busy street trying to get as close to the tailpipes as I can, but I’ll be spending some time in the heat chamber riding on my bike with heaters blaring,” said Tichelaar. “(In Beijing) it’s supposed to be 30 degrees in August. It’s going to be cooking.”
Tichelaar made his name by placing fifth in the 2001 junior world championship race in Edmonton at Hawrelak Park. He then improved his world ranking to 19th from 124th at the end of the 2007 season.
Tichelaar is trying to keep training as routine as possible before travelling to Beijing for the big race.
“We want to train like it’s another World Cup.”
