van RIEL Marten

General
TOKYO STRATEGY
He says he can go into the individual race at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo with confidence, having worked on his running. "I think there are going to be some breaks in the pack because there is only 55 on the start line. I think that is going to break up the group a little bit. I don't think the gaps will be very big so that is why it was good for me to build some confidence in races where we came off the bike in a big pack. I have to get over that stigma that other people give me, which I also give myself, that I need a breakaway to perform well. I think I have improved so much in my running that I can also be confident in my run. There are going to be a couple of guys who are really going to push, like myself, the French guys and a few other people. But then at the back of the field you will have a couple of guys who are really going to push through late, like my teammate Jelle [Geens] and some of the Australians. I think there is a good balance right now in strength of both the front-running group and those who like to come through late." (tri247.com, 11 Jul 2021)

RELAY HOPES
He says he has high hopes for his team in the mixed relay event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I'm super excited about the mixed relay. We are a very small country, not a usual triathlon powerhouse, but at the moment we have two men who are at world level and also two women who are at that level, and that's amazing to have. I think we can surprise a lot of people if the circumstance turns out right." (tri247.com, 11 Jul 2021)

FUTURE PLANS
He says he plans to start competing in Ironman races in the future and aims to compete at the world championship, held annually in Hawaii, United States of America. "In order to achieve both goals, to get the most out of my Olympic career, but also to prepare myself for participation in Hawaii, I started a personal team together with my manager and I left Marc Herremans' team. This project focuses on participation in the 2024 Games in Paris and in Hawaii 2024 or 2025. In the current and coming years [speaking in 2021], we want to prepare everything optimally, in terms of sponsorship, testing, equipment, so that the combination of the Olympic and the full distance after Paris 2024 is feasible. Of course, I'll have to do more of the longer work and qualify for Hawaii, along with Olympic and half-Ironman triathlons, but I think that's possible." (trikipedia.nl, 26 Mar 2021)