Fired up for a challenge

Saturday 25 August 2018

When wildfires so intense it started “raining ash” hit Canada, a local triathlete thought it was the end for his dream of qualifying for Super League – but it later turned into a lucky twist of fate.

Jersey’s Ollie Turner knew he had to take part in the Super League Triathlon after watching as a crowd member last year.

The full-time triathlete and former Le Rocquier student, who competed in the most recent Commonwealth Games, went to Penticton Canada for the qualifying race.

Despite preparing well for the race and getting off to a good start on day one, he was never to complete it. Wildfires had spread across British Columbia, resulting in poor air quality due to dense smoke and even, according to Ollie’s blog, resulting in it “literally raining ash!”

Yewwww, racing @SuperLeagueTri Jersey in 5 weeks. Come down and scream/heckle some abuse to motivate me to get a golden ticket! (LinkInBio) pic.twitter.com/5NG3fxfue2

— Ollie Turner (@OliverTurnerTri) August 21, 2018

Unsurprisingly, the race was called off, and Ollie was left bitterly disappointed that he could no longer compete – or so he thought.

Organisers then announced that everyone who had competed in the Individual Time Trial would get a shot in the Championships opening race in Jersey later this month, with prize money from the cancelled race instead used to fly the athletes over. 

Not only does it mean a competitive boost for Ollie in getting to race on his home turf, but also is a chance to race with the pros. 

Check out @MaccaNow telling all of the athletes the big surprise. https://t.co/6VgXuIVA0y #IAMSUPERLEAGUE pic.twitter.com/n3WD9JSFJk

— Super League Triathlon (@SuperLeagueTri) August 19, 2018

Organisers joked that it was a ‘race within a race’, with all Penticton competitors fighting both for overall victory and a place in the season-long narrative. 

Super League’s CEO Michael Dhulst commented: “We are hugely disappointed that we had to make the difficult decision to call the races off, but the safety of our athletes and crew is of paramount importance. We were closely monitoring the weather and the wildfires, and while we had hoped the conditions would improve over the weekend, unfortunately that was not the case. Our thoughts are with the firefighters, emergency services and residents who are affected by these fires. 

“The athletes have been fully supportive of the difficult decisions we had to make, and we are looking forward to welcoming many of them to Jersey, for another chance to secure a place in the Championship Series. It will be brilliant to see local athlete, Ollie Turner, racing on his home turf against the world’s best triathletes, something we know he has been working hard towards.”

Kudos to @SuperLeagueTri / @MaccaNow for making the best of a difficult situation (cancelled race) for the Pro athletes at @superleague_pen . ALL - including 'home' athlete @OliverTurnerTri - will get to race SLT Jersey >>> https://t.co/6fxDvQKgNt pic.twitter.com/eemXTNqZo2

— TRI247.com (@tri247) August 20, 2018

Reflecting on the twist of fate, Ollie wrote in his blog: “I’m absolutely frothing to get out and race in Jersey and can’t wait to have all my buddies and family down on the course heckling me along! Last years’ experience of watching the race as a spectator was incredible so words can’t describe how excited I am to get out and rip it around with the world’s best.

“5 weeks now until the big day and speaking to coach Saunders it sounds like I’ve certainly got my work cut out…”