For five years, Nicola Spirig has been dominating the triathlon scene almost at will. She was European Champion, World Champion, and Olympic Champion. This year, she wants to defend her title in Rio at the Olympic Games despite breaking her metacarpal bone when she fell in Abu Dhabi.

The Olympic Games are on the program in August. What does your preparation look like in the months preceding this major goal?  

The main focus currently lies on the healing of my injury. Nevertheless, I am going to the training camp in order to get an excellent preparation. Whether I will complete preparatory competitions, is not yet clear.

I don’t want to get into form too early this year. Instead, I want to spend the last three months before Rio at an altitude training camp in St. Moritz to get into absolute peak condition. I will then travel to Rio just three days before the race.

For nigh on three years, you have not only been a triathlete, but also a mother. How do you cope with this dual load, or rather, how do you organize your training/career and family?  

I'm lucky to have a great team around me giving me a great deal of support, especially my husband, Reto. He is currently caring for Yannis full-time so I can concentrate totally on my training. Reto and Yannis frequently accompany me to the training camp, which is an an ideal situation for me. We have rented an apartment in the Engadine as a second home for Yannis because the Engadine, as mentioned, is where my preparation during the final months before Rio will take place. I can therefore easily combine family and training.

Balancing everything is certainly not easy, but Yannis gives me a totally different perspective, which enables me to take a much more relaxed approach to my sport, something I find very positive.

A large part of your success can be attributed to your trainer Brett Sutton. In your opinion, what is it that particularly distinguishes him? And what aspects could hobby athletes adopt for themselves?  

Brett has been a full-time trainer for 40 years in various types of sports, and therefore has incredible experience. With more than 20 world champions and three Olympic medallists among the various athletes he has trained, he knows exactly what it takes to lead athletes to success. His great insight into human nature impresses me. He takes on board the different personality and abilities of each athlete and tailors their training accordingly. In the process, he understands how to create an ideal environment with his international training group to facilitate concentrated, motivated training at a very high level.

You've achieved everything in the Olympic distance. Will we soon see you competing in the Ironman distance? What would that mean for your training?  

I have not yet decided how things should progress after the Olympic Games in Rio. A switch to the long distance would certainly mean an increase in the biking distance and a decrease in the distance in the swimming pool. It would require some longer units, but basically there wouldn’t be too many changes to my training. I often train with long-distance athletes in my training group. The training philosophy is similar, but the training time in the respective disciplines is distributed somewhat differently.

Foto: ZVG