Interview with Gómez Noya

Javier Gómez Noya faces 2011 with his mind set on ensuring qualification for next year's London Olympic Games. The triathlete has precisely been in the English capital recording an advertisement for Powerade and, while we shared filming with him, we took the opportunity to talk about his goals, his previous Olympic experience in Beijing, the World Cup he won last year and Operation Greyhound.

We are in London, where in August 2012 will be the Olympic Games, a circuit that you know well from the World Cup ...
I have a very good feeling about competing here, in Hyde Park. For example, last year was one of my best races and I won. Whenever I go out to train here I feel very good, I like the climate because it is very similar to Galicia perhaps, but I also know that it doesn't mean anything, that in the Games it is going to be a completely different race. What you have to do is arrive well prepared, in shape, without injuries and fight that day.

Fight like you did last year when you ended up proclaiming yourself world champion
Last year it started with an injury just a week before the first competition, when I was in pretty good shape and very motivated. A discomfort appeared in my hip that left me disabled for a month. I missed the first two competitions and all the form you lose by not training. The second race I had no discomfort but I was not in good shape, I came in twelfth, a result that is not bad but is if you aspire to the World Championship. In Madrid I was already fourth, at a decent level, in the second European Championship and I began to get good results until I reached the final with a real chance of becoming world champion, which was not easy but the way things turned out I was lucky and My rival didn't have a good day but other times I was unlucky. Sport is like that and in general terms it was a very good year and I value it a lot for that, for having had problems at the beginning and being able to overcome them and achieve the goal.

And speaking of goals, which one have you set for yourself this season?
The first thing is to try to secure qualification for the Olympic Games, which if I am at the level I have been until now I should have no problem and there is a competition that motivates me especially and it is the European Championship because it is in Pontevedra, where I live. It lasts only one day and we are going to use it as a test for the Games. It makes you fine-tune your preparation for tests that are only in one day. It is June 25 or 26. Especially to see if modifications need to be made. Finding the right set-up in this sport is difficult. Since there are three disciplines it is not exact, you have to feel good in all three on D-day at H-hour.

Which reminds me of the Beijing Games. This year the last test of the world series is the Chinese capital. You return to a scene of not very pleasant memories...
I have good and bad memories. Bad for the Games, I wasn't as I would have liked with many problems due to the heat, but on that same circuit I won in 2007, which makes me think that each race is different. Just because you have had a good result one year does not mean that the next year you will do the same or the other way around. In the end, the rivals and how the race goes is what makes the tests tougher. The Beijing circuit has nothing special, it is not one of the flattest, there is a climb on the bike but in general it works well for me. I don't think too much that on that circuit I wasn't very good at the Games because three years before I was. It will be one more race and to enjoy it, it will simply be the same scenario.

How does one recover emotionally when things don't go as planned?
It was a hard blow but I didn't get too stressed either. I knew that I had been carrying an injury for some time, which then cost me six months to run again after the Games. I gave everything I had, did everything I could and came fourth. Maybe I heard a lot of criticism later, people who don't care about you for four years and then demand a medal from you. I have learned to pass, I do this because I like it, because it is my passion and whoever wants to value it should value it.

Come on, you do not do it for the medals
In Spain we are very prone to talking about medals and starting to count them, but those who count them do not know the sacrifice it costs even if we are well. There are sports that are more random than others, sports with a very important tactical component, including triathlon. You have to make many decisions in the race, whether to attack or not, when to do it, pay attention to the movements of your rivals and that means that the strongest does not always win. A one-day race is almost a lottery. What we have to do is arrive as best as possible and fight that day like never before. Hard moments make you learn. When everything goes well and you win you always don't think too much about what you've done but when things go wrong you think about why, the preparation for the day of the race, what you've done wrong and that makes you try to avoid them for the next race. There will always be good moments and bad moments but you have to try to maintain emotional stability: neither excessive euphoria when you win nor collapse when you lose. In that aspect I never doubted myself for having placed fourth in the Games, I know that I am capable of winning because I have already won many times worse. I am also realistic and I know that there are many very good rivals who can win. The important thing is to work well and not have injuries. With age you realize that the important thing is not to get injured because if I am healthy I can compete at a high level.

How does a triathlete take care of himself?
You have to take great care of yourself at all levels. You have to take care of your body with stretching, physio sessions, and also diet, rest... It is a sport that can be quite harmful, especially due to the fact of changing from the bike to running on foot. You have to be careful. Luckily I haven't had many serious injuries, I was unlucky in that I had the most serious one before the Games but as I get older I notice that my level is higher, that it is increasingly difficult for me to get into shape but when I get it I walk more than I did a few years ago but there is also a greater risk of injury. I train three sessions a day, one for each sport, more gym, stretching... and when you realize it, the day is over. We are not machines, there are times when you need to disconnect, be with friends and not train so much. The head must be given a break.

In Spain we are still immersed in Operation Greyhound, you who compete internationally, do you think that Spanish depostists are looked at with a magnifying glass?
Yes and I know it from my own experience. I pass more anti-doping controls in competition and surprise than the Germans or the English. We are always the same: people from Eastern Europe, South Americans and Spaniards. On the one hand, it seems sad to me that news like that of Operation Greyhound comes out, but on the other hand, I am happy because there will be fewer cheaters. What I would like is for it to be investigated to the end, for the appropriate measures to be taken and for there to be the necessary sanctions and for things not to be left up in the air because that damages the image of all Spanish athletes. Those of us who are clean are also in question abroad due to these news that are coming out. With doping there should not be any type of tolerance, I think the sanctions should be toughened. Let's hope this time it goes to the end.

Source: www.marca.com