Why this future star has 'goosebumps' over triathlon's future

By Simon Smale

Topic:Triathlon

Aspen Anderson says the future is bright for Australian triathlon. (ABC Sport: Simon Smale)

The future of triathlon in Australia is looking very bright — particularly on the Gold Coast.

And 19-year-old rising star Aspen Anderson is hoping to play a big part in that future.

Last week, AusTriathlon formally opened its new high performance hub at the Miami Aquatic Centre, a home for the sport's best athletes and coaches, as well as the future, developing talent through the Ascent Academy.

It's a move that positions the Gold Coast right at the heart of the multi-sport universe leading into the 2032 Olympics.

The proposed location of the triathlon events at those Brisbane Games is the Gold Coast, and that is something that has Australia's top athletes very excited.

Aspen Anderson says knowing that a friendly, smiling face will be there at the new high performance hub was motivating. (Getty Images: Commonwealth Sport/Kevin C. Cox)

"I think having a home, for a home Olympics is really special," Anderson told ABC Sport on the Gold Coast.

"Sometimes it [training] is a bit of a slog when you have to put the headphones in and you're just trying to get it done.

"But knowing that there's always someone that can go for a ride with you, yeah, it definitely helps.

"It's like a strength in numbers kind of thing. Some days when you're not feeling great, they're always there to lift you up and someone's always got a smile on their face, and on your hard days, they might be having a great day, and vice versa, when you're having a good day, you can help a friend out too.

"This hub is definitely a great step forward, it's been hard in previous years where you're kind of just floating between venues. Now, having this locked in is really exciting."

Aspen Anderson has an athletics background and competed in the Women's U20s race during the 2023 World Cross Country Championships. (Getty Images: World Athletics/Cameron Spencer)

Reigning World Champion Matt Hauser agreed, saying the hub was a huge step forward for the athletes.

"For sure I wouldn't be able to do this sport if I was just training solo, seven days a week across the three sports," Hauser told ABC Sport.

"I think it's a really important dynamic that you also get that racing exposure in training and you're able to push each other and go to another level than you would have previously without someone there pushing you.

"Having that culture piece, having everyone on the same path and knowing that when you're putting the hard yards in, when your heart rate's maxing out, when you've got a sore body at the end of the week, everyone's in the same position and they're motivated to get to the same place as you are is, I think, really important, especially when we move towards Brisbane 2032.

"Everyone wants success for the country … so to be on that journey together and have that centralised program here in Miami now is, I think, really powerful."

Anderson noted that Hauser has "led the way" in bringing Australia back to the top step of world triathlon.

The 28-year-old claimed the world title on home soil in Wollongong last year, becoming the first Australian since Emma Moffatt in 2010.

It put Australia back on top of the triathlon world after a lengthy absence, and with the global hiring of new high performance coaches like British former European champion Non Stanford-Royle and Germany's former world champion Daniel Unger, hopes are that Hauser's success will be just the latest in a long line of triumphs.

Anderson herself is clearly on the right pathway to emulating some of the greats of the past.

Aspen Anderson won two gold medals at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad and Tobago. (Getty Images: Commonwealth Sport/Kevin C. Cox)

A double gold medallist from the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023, the Victoria-born teenager made her World Triathlon Championship Series debut earlier this season.

At the event in Quiberon, France, in June, Anderson led off Australia's mixed team relay to a sensational fourth place finish.

"I was really fortunate to get to experience the mixed team relay," Anderson said.

"I loved it. It was so fun, it's short enough that you're still with all the best of the best, like I'm lining up next to [Luxemburg's European champion] Jeanne Lehair and [French mixed team relay world championship gold medallist] Emma Lombardi, and I'm like 'wow, these are people that are performing on the biggest stages and here I am, just hey guys'.

"I had a bit of a fangirl moment but it was a great experience.

Aspen Anderson first took up triathlons in high school. (Getty Images: Commonwealth Sport/Kevin C. Cox)

Fresh from that fourth place, a couple of weeks later Anderson made her full individual World Championship Series debut in Hamburg, finishing 38th as the second-youngest of all the competitors in the race.

"I wasn't even planning to do World Series races this year, that was not even really on the cards, and then I think I just had a little bit too much momentum and they were like, 'oh, let's just go for it,'" Anderson said.

"Hamburg was another extreme … the crowds and everything, it was insane.

"It was definitely a big step up but it wasn't as big as everyone made it seem, I think maybe I over-hyped it a little bit in my head.

"But now I know what it's like and I know what to expect for next time. Every race is different though, so you never know what to expect."

Anderson will race in Weihai, China, at the end of the month, and has also been named to the Australian under 23 squad for the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Finals in Pontevedra, Spain, later this year.

This too came somewhat as a surprise for a teenager well and truly on the fast-track to the top.

It's made the prospect of a home Olympics all the more tantalising.

Anderson cites Cassandre Beaugrand's victory in Paris as being a huge inspiration. (Getty Images: Lars Baron)

"It's always something in the back of your mind," Anderson said.

"I'm someone that's really realistic, so I don't want to get ahead of myself, I'm kind of taking it race by race or day by day and really enjoying the process of doing that.

"But yeah, there's some days where you just get goosebumps thinking about it, just, wow there's an Olympics literally out the front door; there's talks of it being in Tallebudgera or Currumbin, and if it's in Currumbin that's literally where I live, so that would be something you could write in a fairytale ending.

"Cassie [Beaugrand, Paris 2024 Olympic champion] and what she did at her home Olympics, I think it's … yeah it literally is giving me goosebumps now thinking about it.

"Having the support of a home base going for something like 2032 is insane — and LA would be a lovely stepping stone for that, it would be lovely just to dip the toes in the water and still be competitive and then I think, yeah, it would be lovely to have a fairytale ending in Brisbane.

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