Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 76, November 2015 | Page 12

Ma

IN THE LEAD

Feet Firmly on the Ground

With a World Championship title to his name, Michael Lord has the triathlon world at his feet, but this well-grounded young
man still has his sights firmly set on his studies and making sure he uses his time effectively in between all his sporting
activities. – BY SEAN FALCONER

M

aties first-year geology student Michael Lord
went to Sardinia, Italy for the ITU Cross Triathlon
World Champs at the end of September with
a point to prove. Having finished second in the junior
elite category at the previous World Champs in Zittau,
Germany in 2014, the 19-year-old wanted to win the
title in his last year as a junior, but he says he went into
the event feeling relaxed. “I wasn’t nervous on race day,
because you can only do as well as you can. Also, I had
spent a week in Sardinia acclimatising and learning the
course, so I knew all the lines and knew I could make up
time on the bike, even against faster riders.”

me, like taking various survey trips into African countries
for weeks at a time, plus work opportunities in the field
are generally good. However, with the Chinese economy
currently down, geologists are suddenly struggling for
work for the first time, since China buys much of South
Africa’s mineral resources. Hopefully that will have
changed by the time I start working, and that may also
affect my decision which area to specialise in.”

PROMISING YOUNG YEARS

Michael grew up in a sporty family based in Somerset West
that used to regularly go for hikes and mountain bike rides
together. He began doing triathlons and duathlons at the
age of eight, and won his first SA Junior title at the age of
nine. “I remember my first triathlon at the Coetzenberg
Dam here in Stellenbosch, and I have been doing the
sport ever since,” says Michael. “Back when I started the
Western Province had a very strong group of juniors that
were well looked after by Tony Bradford, and we used to
dominate the podiums at SA Champs. I still love the sport
and the lifestyle.”

Racing in good weather conditions, Michael came out
of the 750m swim in fourth position, just a few seconds
behind the leaders, and was first out of transition. On
the 19km bike leg he soon began to open a gap on the
chasing athletes, especially when the leading juniors
caught up to the backmarkers in the elite women’s race
– then Michael says his strategy was to put as many of
the women as he could between him and the chasers.
In the 6km run leg, he had a lead of a minute, which
he maintained right to the end, although he gave up 40
seconds when he missed the entry into the finish straight
and had to walk back to find it. Then, having claimed a
World Champs title and celebrated standing on top of the
podium, he hit the books again – because he had a big
chemistry test the Monday evening after he got back to
Stellenbosch!

some done while I was in Italy. I find the pure maths and
physics the most challenging of my B.Sc Earth Sciences
subjects, but I passed everything in the first semester,
so I just want to pass everything in the second semester,
because next year I won’t have either subject any more.”

“Man, that test was rough – I wrote for over two
hours, and I think I did enough to pass. Studying while
competing overseas is not easy, but I still managed to get

The young man’s attraction to geology stems from his
father, who also worked as a geologist. “He told me
stories of travelling a lot thanks to work, which appeals to

In primary school Michael did cross-country and
swimming, and then in high school at Paul Roos
Gymnasium he played hockey and waterpolo, rode for the
school’s talented mountain biking squad and sometimes
did athletics – and sang in the choir – but triathlon
remained his focus. Meanwhile, his younger sister Megan
also got into triathlon, but is now focused on hockey,

Michael with dad Kim, mom
Tootsie and sister Megan

Loving the Fedhealth XTERRA
Grabouw run course

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ISSUE 76 NOVEMBER 2015 / www.modernathlete.co.za