03/12/07 - 7th in EILAT WORLD CUP!
Well, it's been a while. After nearly 6 months, I have finally raced again. The "hurt my foot" after the Europeans turned out to be a broken bone, which forced me off training for 6 weeks. I then tried to whip myself into shape for Worlds and the Beijing World Cup (an Olympic Games qualifier), but managed to rehurt my foot in the process!
After such a long break from training (especially running), my fitness was dire, but my coach and I set a target to get me competing at the final World Cup of the season in Eilat, Israel.
I turned up with a maximum running week of about 3 hours, but decent swim and bike fitness. I swam well and hence easily made the front pack. The bike had a cheeky hill on every lap that I was able to take advantage of and make the sure the pace was kept high throughout. Onto the run, I felt comfortable running in 3rd fo the first couple of kilometres, despite knowing that my lack of training would catch up on me further into the race.
I spend the bulk of the running with two other guys in 4th and 5th, though they finally shelled me with 2km to go. In the last 2km I fell apart a bit and dropped another place with about 100m to go, but still managed to hold onto a most unexpected 7th.
This result really gives me confidence for the upcoming winter, and shows that once I get back to full training I should be back pushing for World Cup podium finishes!
1. Hirokatsu Tayama JPN 1:49:46
2. Volodymyr Polikarpenko UKR 1:50:32
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7. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 1:51:03
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21/06/07 - FULCRUM SPEEDS from THE TRI STORE
Talk about bling-bling! The very generous guys at the Tri Store have just given me my super-fly new wheels for the race season: a pair of Fulcrum Racing Speeds!
I'm really excited about getting a chance to race on them, and I did do a cheeky ride on them the other day, and they certainly lived up to my VERY high expectations! I've put a couple of photos of them in my Gallery.
Hello All. Sorry for the delay since my last update. It has been an eventful month! 2 weeks after Richards Bay I raced in Scotland in the Corus Series race #1, where I came 4th. I was pretty pleased, considering that I was in heavy training at the time. The next weekend I went up to Oxford for the Blenheim Triathlon. I didn't compete, but enjoyed watching the races and catching up with some of my sponsors.
Meanwhile, I managed to hurt my foot, which put me out of training for a while. It seems to be behaving itself again now, and I have been able to get some good miles in this week. I was gutted to miss the Nationals and the World Cup in Des Moines, but there are more important races coming up that I knew I would be far more upset if I missed.
I will keep you updated of how things progress over the next few weeks.
13/05/07 - CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR - 4th at RICHARDS BAY
What a week. 7 days ago I lined up in Lisbon as the 75th ranked athlete, having barely scraped onto the start list. Earlier today, a few thousand miles further south (in South Africa) I lined up as the number 1 ranked athlete! Now THAT (in the words of Ricky Gervais) is mental!
I had a great swim start, swimming along side Rich Stannard. However, we both got absolutely hammered at the first buoy. I managed to hold it together and exit comfortably in the front pack.
The bike was going OK until a commited group got away and ground themselves a 1:20 lead by T2. I feel I did too much work to try to chase them down, which I paid for later!
Onto the run, I tucked into a swift chase pack as we hunted down the leaders. By 8km our pack was whittled down to 5 of us (de Villiers, Polykarpenko, Hug, Fleureton and me), and we had caught all bar one of the leaders. I felt strong, so put in an effort for the best part of 1km, which shelled off Hug and Fleureton, but also pushed me over the edge, so I couldn't stay with the other two as the passed the leader with 400m to go, leaving me in a close 4th.
I was gutted to miss the podium by such a small margin, but am really stoked with my results this past 7 days. It has elevated my world ranking to 22 (and number 1 in Great Britain).
1. Hendrik de Villiers RSA 1:52:53
2. Volodymyr Polikarpenko UKR 1:52:58
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4. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 1:53:10
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08/05/07 - 5th at LISBON WORLD CUP
Hey All. Just arrived back from a very successful weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. It was my first race of the year, against a very high quality field, including Olympic, Commonwealth and World Champions.
I had a decent swim, exiting in the top 20. The ride was pretty technical, with parts on roads, cobbles and even a horseshoe through an underground indoor stadium! Madness! I felt strong, and managed to get away with two others (one of them being Stu Hayes) on the last lap, giving us a 15 secs lead into T2 ahead of the main pack which included all the main players.
Onto the run, I held them off for about 3.5km, but finally got caught by the leading 3: Gomez, Kahlefeldt and Ospaly. I hung with them for 1km before Javier put in a kick that split us apart. I ran for a while in 4th, just trying to keep Brad Kahlefeldt in my sights, before I got passed by Rasmus who was surging through strongly at the end.
I'm pleased with the result, and it's given me a great platform to build on for the long season ahead...which continues next weekend in South Africa with another World Cup.
ps. I've spotted my ugly mug in a couple of photos from the race...see the Gallery.
1. Javier Gomez ESP 1:52:41
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4. Rasmus Henning DEN 1:53:09
5. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 1:53:20
6. Jan Frodeno GER 1:53:40
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30/04/07 - HERBA-FUN in BRIGHTON!
Just to say thanks to all the Herbalife guys and gals who were down in Brighton for the Spring Spectacular. I had fun speaking on the stage with my sister Henny.
I've put up a couple of photos that Steph took at the do in the Gallery section...and yes, we WERE wearing tri-suits on stage...SO WHAT?!
I am delighted to welcome Nike on board as a new sponsor. Their reputation for producing high quality apparel, footwear and equipment is second to none, and they are the perfect partner to help me continue towards my Olympic aspirations.
I had a great time today going up to NIKETOWN with Steph and Ben, where we met up with Dave Scott who showed me around and helped me get kitted out for the upcoming season! I was able to pick out the perfect running shoes to get me through those weekly miles (Air Vomero), race shoes (Zoom Marathoner) and cycling shoes (T-Speeds), along with everything else!
See my 'Sponsors' page, and nike.com to find out more.
11/03/07 - TOP 10 AT NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPS
Had a really encouraging run at the National Cross-Country Champs yesterday in Sunderland, in my first year as a Senior, racing over the full 12km.. Despite the strong winds, hilly course and sticky mud, I was able to keep strong throughout and finish under 40 seconds outside the medals.
It was a great confidence booster, and really highlights how much my running has moved on in the last year. It now looks like everything is in place for me to put the final touches on my preparation for the race season.
1. F. Tickner 37:31
2. H. Lobb 38:11
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10. O. FREEMAN 38:52
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Hi all. With the season fast approaching, the focus of training has started shifted to some more race-specific sessions. I had a really good 10km effort in Friston Forest last weekend, and I managed to crack my least favourite swim session: '20x100m on 1:40, best possible average' last night. It hurt, but I put together by far my best times ever, which was great. It was even better as it came the day after a rare late-night, watching the awesome Keane in concert.
Just a quickie. As I metioned on the site last month I was hoping to race the Southern Cross-Country Champs last weekend but decided not to. In Athletics Weekly it says "Of the contenders in the men's event, only the injured Oli Freeman backed out". This is just to say that I'm not injured...I'm not sure where that story came from!
25/01/07 - WELCOME GIANT BICYCLES!
Firstly, I am delighted to welcome Giant as my new bicycle sponsor. I returned home yesterday from a training camp in Spain to find my shiny new Giants waiting for me!
This year I will be racing on a TCR C Zero. You can read up on it here, or alternatively have a look on my 'Sponsors' page to find out more about them there.
What a start to 2007! Earlier today I had the Sussex Cross-Country Champs, and against a quality field I managed to triumph by well over a minute on the 12km muddy, hilly course.
The pace was comfortable at the start, and I immediately locked onto the pace set by the favourite and twice previous winner Andy Robinson (who has already run some killer times on the road this year). He pulled me away from the rest of the field, but on the second lap, when we hit the start of the big hill, I attacked and managed to build up a big lead that I held onto until the end, with Andy falling back to the chase pack but still managing 2nd.
I am currently between computers so I won't be able to upload any photos for a couple of weeks, but do check out the race write up at the Sussex Athletics website here.
1. OLIVER FREEMAN 42:11
2. Andy Robinson 43:28
3. James Baker 43:34
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PS. Upcoming plans: Possible Cross-Country race next weekend, then a week training in Spain, and then possibly the Southern Cross-Country Champs in Norfolk at the end of January...oh, and it's my 21st birthday on Thursday!
Just a brief update. Training is going great, and I have done a couple of local running races in the last couple of weeks.
The first was a road race over in Brighton, where I came second, and smashed my time from last time I raced there. The other race was today very near where I live. I went out hard and opened up a pretty big gap, and in the end won by 2 and a half minutes, which was a nice confidence booster!
I have posted pictures of both races in the 'Gallery' section. 'Av a butchers!
10/11/06 - CHECK OUT THE NOKIA 5500 SPORT
This is just a quickie to say that today I picked up a shiny new '5500 Sport' from the nice people at Nokia.
It is a brand new phone with all sorts of Sports functions, including stopwatch, steps calculator, speed and distance, motivational music, calories burned, pre-set bike and run tests, training diary and tons of other techno-sorcery. It seems the only thing it doesn't actually do for me is the ruddy training sessions...shame.
Read up about it here.
31/10/06 - AMBASSADOR FOR KENT FANS SCHEME
I am delighted to announce that I have been appointed as one of three ambassadors to the Kent FANS Scheme.
FANS stands for 'Free Access to National Sportspeople', and I was a member of the Kent Scheme from the age of 12 until I moved to my current location in Eastbourne, East Sussex a couple of years ago. The scheme was a tremendous help to my training, giving me access to all sorts of facilities all over the county.
The Patron of the scheme is Dame Kelly Holmes, and the other two ambassadors are 2006 Commonwealth Games medallists Cathy Gilliat-Smith (hockey) and Lisa Dobriskey (1500m).
Find out more here.
26/09/06 - BACK FROM GREAT TRIP IN CHINA
Last night I returned from a two week trip in the Far East.
RACE #1 - MACAU
First I travelled to a small island near Hong Kong called Macau to race in an ITU Asian Cup. The race had attracted some top athletes, so I was very excited about getting the opportunity to get a good result, and restore some confidence after my disappointing last race.
The race started at 6am on the Sunday (which was 11pm Saturday UK time!). I had a great start, and got to the front of the race straight away, where I remained for the rest of the swim. After a good T1, I established myself in the front bike pack, which contained all of the favourites for the race (except Jan Rehula, Bronze medallist at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, who was in the 2nd pack). The bike course was flat and fast, though a couple of guys managed to break away and eventually steal a 1:40 lead, taking advantage of our indecision of whether to chase them hard or leave it until the run. I didn't have a great T2, but ran quickly up to the front of our group and set off chasing the two leaders, with 3 or 4 other guys from my pack in tow. We finally caught the two leaders at 6km, at which point pre-race favourite Dmitriy Gaag attacked and opened up a 30m lead. I spent the rest of the race trying to close him down, while simultaneously pulling away from the others and consolidating myself in 2nd place.
It was a great result, and once which also gave me a boosting up the World Rankings which I hoped would allow me to race the next week in the World Cup in Beijing...
1. Dmitriy Gaag KAZ 01:45:20
2. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:45:29
3. Daniil Sapunov KAZ 01:45:42
4. Bryce Quirk NZL 01:45:54
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RACE #2 - BEIJING
The following weekend was the Beijing World Cup. This attacted a huge field, as not only was it a World Cup, but was also being held over the proposed course for the 2008 Olympics, so I only received confirmation that I was going to get a place on the start list 4 or 5 days before the race!
After a tough swim, I found myself in a small pack of about 6 guys, stuck between the 1st and 2nd main groups. We were eventually sawllowed up by the 2nd pack,and continued to lose time to the leaders. I was pleased, however, as I felt strong throughout all 6 of the incredibly tough, hilly bike laps. My pack contained some of the strongest runners in the sport (World Champ Tim Don, Commonwealth Champ and World #1 Brad Kahlefeldt etc), so I knew the run would be tough, as many of the minor places were still up for grabs. When it came to it, Tim Don and Kiwi Kris Gemmel went out like rockets, and I settled in behind them at the front of a small pack of other top runners (Gaag KAZ, Shoemaker USA, Pais POR, Clarke GBR, Kahlefeldt AUS). I was able to drop a few of them in the first few kms, at which point I had elevated myself to about 17th pace. However, I really suffered in the second 5km of the run and eventually finished 25th, as 2nd GBR finisher after Tim Don.
1. Frederic Belaubre FRA 01:52:47
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24. Csaba Kuttor HUN 01:55:42
25. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:55:46
26. Ivan Vasiliev RUS 01:55:53
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25/09/06 - WORLD CHAMPS...AT LAST!
Firstly, my apologies for the lateness of this write up. The World Triathlon Champs occurred earlier this month in Lausanne, Switzerland.
After a strong swim start, I suffered in the middle section and lost a few places, though still came out in the front pack. For some reason I really struggled at the start of the bike, and this was exacerbated by the steep hills, which really took it out of me. By the end of the 40km I was starting to feel a bit better, but the damage had been done, and despite making the pace for the first 2km of the run, I then had to let the front runners go and settle back to what would eventually be 8th place.
1. Will Clarke GBR 01:57:30
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7. Matthew Seymour USA 01:59:43
8. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:59:58
9. Charles Rusterholtz SUI 02:00:05
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I was pretty gutted with the result, though after reflecting on the race, I remembered that at the beginning of the season I had set myself the goal of coming top 10 in the U23 World Champs. I therefore think that the fact that I was not at all happy with 8th place reflects as much upon how sucessful the rest of my season has been as to my actual performance in the race.
14/08/06 - LONDON TRI ON CHANNEL 4
Watch out for the extended highlights of the 2006 Michelob Ultra London Triathlon on Grandstand on BBC at 13:05 on Saturday 19th August. Read more about my race there below.
Wow! I have just returned from an amazing weekend in town at the Michelob Ultra London Triathlon. Along with a great amount of press attention, and some wonderful (and sometimes overwhelming) support from Team Herbalife, I managed to cap off the weekend with a really great race. I managed to get on the podium in the Elite race, in a super-strong field, including the Gold & Silver medallists from the 2004 Athens Olympics (Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty)!
I had a great swim start, and was able to get onto the feet of the lightning-fast Richard Stannard, but like all but one of the 60 odd competitors, I couldn't keep with his blistering pace, but instead settled into a comfortable pace in the main front pack.
After T1, we quickly caught the two leaders, and around 8 of us worked hard to try to keep away from the chasing pack including World Champion and Olympic & Commonwealth Silver medallist Bevan Docherty. Unfortunately we didn't succeed, and after 15km or so we got swallowed up. Soon after, last year's winner Stu Hayes attacked off the front, and by the end of the ride had built up a gap of nearly 1 minute while we all slowed down, and also got caught by Olympic Champion Hamish Carter.
On the run, Tim Don took the pace, and only myself, Hendrik De Villiers and Richard Stannard were able to keep up. After about 4km, Henrik attacked, and Rich dropped back. For the rest of the race I was clinging onto Tim's pace, which pulled me ahead of Stu into 3rd place, and kept me ahead of the strong guys behind.
I finished just behind Tim, and was delighted to get on the podium, and to have finished so high in such a high quality field. Watch out for the 70 mins BBC programme going out in the next couple of weeks on Grandstand.
1. Hendrik De Villiers RSA 01:45:35
2. Tim Don GBR 01:46:06
3. OLLY FREEMAN GBR 01:46:06
4. Bevan Docherty NZL 01:46:25
5. Stuart Hayes GBR 01:46:34
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The CBBC (Childrens' BBC) Website have added me as one of their Sportstars! Read the interview here.
30/07/06 - GAMBLE BACKFIRES AT SALFORD
Earlier I raced at my second World Cup race, this time in Salford, England. I was feeling in great shape for the race, and was really looking forward to having a crack at a top 10 finish.
I had a poor swim start, and finished the first lap 20 secs behind the leader. However, on the second lap I got into my groove and pulled myself back into the front pack and actually made up 5 secs on the leader! I got into the front pack on the bike, and was riding comfortably. Two riders broke away with about 10km to go, and then with 5km to go, I decided to take a gamble and try to bridge the gap. I made it most of the way, but didn't quite clinch the deal, and found myself 3rd coming out of T2, with a huge pack of strong runners chasing me down!As soon as I got onto the run I knew it wasn't going to be my day, and as the run progressed I felt increasing ill and uncomfortable, and was never able to get into my stride. I faded and finished 18th...not a disaster, but disappointing to not improve upon Madrid. Hopefully next week at the London Triathlon I will be able to set the record straight...?!
1. Brad Kahlefeldt AUS 01:54:31
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17. Matt Hopper AUS 01:56:03
18. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:56:04
19. Simon Agoston AUT 1:56:08
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19/07/06 - BLENHEIM TRI ON CHANNEL 4
At 8am this Sunday (23rd July) there will be showing highlights of the Blenheim Triathlon, that I won back in May. Read more about my race there below.
09/07/06 - 2nd AT EUROPEAN CHAMPS IN CROATIA
Yesterday after a very long day travelling I got back from the European Under 23 Triathlon Champs in Rijeka, on the south coast of Croatia.
I went into the race hoping to get a medal, along with some more specific performance-related goals. Being ranked 10th, I was able to get a good swim start position. I had a great start, and swam most of the race in 4th place, waiting until the last 200m to come round and get out the water first with teammate Harry Wiltshire.
I felt very strong on the bike, and as a team we were able to control it and make sure there were no breakaways, especially with such a strong showing by Dann Brook. I had an awesome position coming into T2, but messed up my dismount and came out of T2 5 seconds down on the leader (Will Clarke).
I soon built up a big gap over the chasers, though wasn't able to get back on terms with Will, and that is how it remained for the rest of the run. Overall I was really pleased to podium in my first Under 23 European Champs!
Finally, congrats other European Medallists this weekend, the Male Youth Relay, who won gold: Rob Bowles, Phil Graves and Jonnie Brownlee.
1. William Clarke GBR 01:54:41
2. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:55:08
3. Balazs Pocsai HUN 01:55:20
4. Ivan Vasiliev RUS 01:55:27
5. Charles Rusterholz SUI 01:55:34
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12/06/06 - FEELING FLAT AT WINDSOR
This weekend saw the National Elite Champs in Windsor. This was the first time I have attempted two Olympic Distance races in two weeks, and I felt the effects!
Despite a fairly strong swim, I had a bad T1 and just missed the front pack, and had to work hard for about 5km to catch back up. It was here that I first noticed that my legs were still carrying over some fatigue from last weekend. The rest of the bike was very steady, and 3 athletes broke away to get a lead of about 1 minute by the end of the ride. Onto the run, I felt OK, but again noticed that I wasn't on form as I wasn't able to run up to Tim Don, the race leader, but instead was only able to hold him at about 30m.
At 5km I was feeling strong in 3rd place, but from then on I started to really suffer. This was augmented by the fact that it was a very hot day and I was hardly able to get any water on the run as the water stations only had plastic cups, which don't retain much water when you are grabbing them at 18-20kmph!
Overall, I was a bit gutted, though it wasn't a disaster at all. I am now going to get some well earned recovery before building up to the European U23 Champs in Croatia next month.
1. Tim Don 01:52:44
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5. Paul Amey 01:53:42
6. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:53:47
7. Andrew Fargus 1:53:54
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06/06/06 - FIRST WORLD CUP IN MADRID
On Sunday I competed in my first ever World Cup race in Madrid, Spain. It was hot, dry, and had a stacked field full of some of the very best elite athletes in the world. I had spent the previous 9 days in Spain (Aguilas, then Madrid) with the British Squad training and preparing for the race.
I had a good start to the swim, and got the first buoy comfortably in the front group, but unfortunately lost this position as the swim got rough and congested. I got onto the bike in the second pack, and despite having some of the best cyclists on the circuit in my group, we failed to close down the leaders, as we never got ourselves properly organised.
Onto the run, I found myself with Tim Don, Rasmus Henning, and Reto Hug. We ran together for the first 3-4km, steadily closing down the leaders, but then Tim surged ahead (to eventually record the fastest run of the day). I stayed with the other two, as we started to pick off guys from the front group. I eventually finished 18th, with the 11th fastest run split.
This race has been an amazing experience, and I have learned a lot. Maybe next time I can put it all together and start to compete for the higher places.
1. Javier Gomez ESP 01:53:09
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17. Cedric Fleureton FRA 01:54:53
18. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 01:54:56
19. Joe Umphenour USA 1:54:59
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21/05/06 - VICTORY AT BLENHEIM
Despite feeling like a drowned rat, I am delighted to have won my first elite race, against two of the best elite triathletes in Great Britain (Stuart Hayes & Richard Stannard).
Unfortunately the weather didn't hold out, so we were subjected to a downpour, which not only made it slippery and treacherous on the bike, but also incredibly cold.
The swim was fine, and Richard, Stu and myself got away comfortably. We rode together on the bike, though we were being incredibly careful as the roads were so slick, as Richard eloquently put it "we rode like fairies!" (I was the worst!). I entered T2 in 3rd but got out first, and went out fairly hard, partly just to warm myself up! I soon built up a 10 secs lead, which then built up to a maximum of about 20 secs, and was able to ease off towards the end.
It was a great race, and I really appreciated all the support, especially from my sponsors Team Herbalife. See 'Gallery' for some photos taken by Steph.
On Friday, I am off to Spain for a week with the GB team as a lead in camp for my first World Cup in Madrid.
1. OLIVER FREEMAN 01:02:22
2. Stuart Hayes 01:02:39
3. Richard Stannard 1:02:42
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Over the weekend I went away to Portugal to compete in my first race of the season.
It was a European Cup in Estoril, near Lisbon. Despite being ranked 69th out of 72, and hence having almost the last choice of starting position, I made it into the front group, and exited the water in 6th.
The bike was reasonably hilly and technical, and a group of about 10 of us stayed away, putting around 2 minutes into the chasers.
I entered T2 in 3rd, and got onto the run in 2nd, on the shoulder of Bruno Pais (Portugal). We were soon joined by Javier Gomez Noya (Spain), and I took the lead for the first couple of kilometers. Gomez then took the lead and slowly built up a lead, while I batlled with Pais until the last 400m where he broke away.
I was chuffed to get on the podium in my first race this season, and hopefully this result can act as a benchmark the rest of the season.
1. Javier Gomez ESP 1:50:45
2. Bruno Pais POR 1:51:03
3. OLIVER FREEMAN GBR 1:51:09
4. Fraser Cartmell GBR 1:52:25
5. Guillaume Dechavanne FRA 1:52:39
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