brilliant video. Potts.... what an athlete.

Laureus event picture.

Simon Whitfield, Emma Snowsill, Boris Becker, Sean Fitzpatrick, Jan Frodeno

some photos from London. Really enjoying this new hobby, thankfully the Lumix GF1 does most of the work.

a terrific guy and great athlete, my good mate Conrad Stoltz.

Laureus event.

Boris Becker and Sean Fitzpatrick team up with world triathlon stars to launch new project in London

LONDON, July 22, 2010 - Laureus World Sports Academy Members Boris Becker and Sean Fitzpatrick were joined by three of the world's greatest triathlon stars for the launch of the Laureus-supported Midnight Basketball project in Kennington, South London. Triathletes Jan Frodeno, Emma Snowsill and Simon Whitfield - in London for the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series event in Hyde Park on July 24 and 25 - were special guests at the project which provides community basketball sessions in areas of high juvenile crime late in the evening to keep youngsters out of trouble. Midnight Basketball, a replica of the successful Laureus-supported project of the same name in Richmond, Virginia, is the 80th sports-based project around the world backed by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which is also the Global Charity Partner of the International Triathlon Union (ITU). German tennis legend Boris Becker said: "This is a great concept. I have also visited the Midnight Basketball project in Virginia and seen how successful it is. I am sure this will make a big impact in the neighbourhood and will keep the kids off the street and out of trouble." As Global Charity Partner of the ITU, Laureus has had the opportunity to field teams at each of the five major events on the international triathlon circuit this year to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and former All Blacks rugby captain Sean Fitzpatrick is one of the Laureus team who will be competing in London. Sean said: "It was great to be at the launch of a new project and I am so delighted that Emma, Jan and Simon were able to come to Midnight Basketball to give them the chance to see Laureus at work. Our partnership with the International Triathlon Union is so important and allows us to get our message to a whole new group of people. I am really looking forward to competing in Hyde Park." Simon Whitfield, the first ever Olympic triathlon gold medallist, in Sydney in 2000, said: "I am delighted to be able to visit the Midnight Basketball project. I know a lot about the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation around the world, and it is great to see it all taking place on the ground. It's a real step forward for my sport to have a tie up like this with Laureus as our Global Charity Partner and I'm certainly going to do everything I can to make it a success. It was great to meet the kids who have opted for sport rather than hanging around on the streets and I had a special word with the volunteers and project leaders without whom none of this would be possible. It was really inspiring to be part of it all for a day." Midnight Basketball in London is a replica of the successful Laureus-supported project of the same name in Richmond, Virginia. The project uses basketball activities and competition to engage at-risk young people from South and Central London, whilst also raising their awareness of society and community and creating training and development opportunities. The programme has been identified as a priority area for development due to the popularity of basketball in these areas, where young people are often uninterested in other sports. Support for a basketball initiative to tackle social issues has come from the Metropolitan Police, Nike, the London Mayor's Office and the central London Sports Action Zone. The project has also received the official endorsement of NBA Europe. The project delivers personal development programmes, alongside basketball, including drug and alcohol awareness, conflict resolution, equality and diversity training and community safety. Those participants undertaking both basketball coaching and personal development programme are given the opportunity to participate in weekend midnight basketball events, running from 10pm - 6am, that incorporate basketball and cultural activities, and which help to keep the vulnerable young people off the streets at a difficult tine. Participants in the programme play in a Midnight Basketball League, with matches played monthly. The winning team have the chance to participate in the Midnight Madness event at Wembley each summer.

Laureus World Sports Academy members Boris Becker and Sean Fitzpatrick

The whole team!!!

who got game?

hamburg and too much time with photoshop..

camera at the pool day.

Great company, amazing bikes. Didn't realize they were so funny!.

evening at the track

the next days

the first day in Germany

Slowtwitch interview

Simon Whitfield is not running on empty new

Written by: Timothy Carlson
Date: Tue Jul 06 2010

Simon Whitfield may be the closest thing Olympic distance triathlon has to an icon in the sport. Thankfully, in person he is more wit, elf and sprite than a ponderous stone monument. And with his lively thoughts and humor he lends as much to the sport with his words as by his deeds.

And what deeds they are! At age 25, the first Olympic men’s gold medalist with a longshot, 27th-after-the-bike-to-gold dash with a then-stunning 30:56 10k run. At age 33, an equally thrilling Olympic silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympic triathlon in a duel to the finish with Germany’s Jan Frodeno. A 2002 Commonwealth Games gold. One of the first Life Time Fitness Men’s gold medals and a $50,000 paycheck. 12 ITU World Cup victories, 21 World Cup podium finishes, and 7 top-10 finishes at the ITU World Championships he has never won. And a $200,000 win in the sport’s greatest 6-man duel to the finish at last year’s Hy-Vee Elite race.

This year on May 16, the forever young Whitfield turned 35 years of age. That’s ancient for tennis, cuttable for a star in the NFL, a youngster in golf, past prime as a sprinter, absolute prime for an Ironman. And just on the cusp of the end in Olympic distance triathlon - closer to the end than the beginning.
Some may suspect that Whitfield is past his prime, has lost his speed.

But not at all simple Simon says he would kick the butt of the kid who won Olympic gold in 2000 and is faster than ever.

When he's healthy.

Trouble so far is that after a 5th place at the opening round of the 2010 Dextro Energy World Championship Series in Sydney, Australia, Whitfield has had to pull out of two straight big races – the WCs round two in Seoul and at Hy-Vee with a malfunctioning hip flexor.


Slowtwitch: Where were you when Canada played the US in the gold medal hockey game? 
for the answer and the rest of the interview www.SLOWTWITCH.com

Gunslingin' Dogs

by Ridley Bent


www.simonwhitfield.com @simonwhitfield