One in a million. Glimpse at Professional Triathlon in Portugal.
All that is written bellow is based on my personal experience after living three years at the High Performance center in Portugal and one year travelling around the US while bumping into some of the World's greatest.
To start off, you can't be a professional triathlete in Portugal so when it comes to High Performance, you always have to consider that these athletes don't see a real future in it. Most are students and when they graduate from studies, they just quit the sport and move on with their lifes as your everyday Joe. The reality in Europe is that triathlon is not yet a "professional" sport. If you are really good and live in a country such as France, Germany or GBR, you can make a living out of it. But again you really, REALLY, need to be good. There aren't many sponsors which turns triathlon in Europe into a really competitive sport. It's no surprise ITU has most of it's WCS races here and is in fact dominated by europeans. 14 out of the current top 15 male athletes according to the WCS ranking.
The industry of the sport is in the US. You travel to any major Ironman event and you'll see all the big brands present at the expo and/or sponsoring the event. All major triathlon related brands are based off the US and most have great sponsorship programs available. Second and third line pros (where I would include myself) get paid. Top age-groupers get sponsors. There are true multisport teams, there's a ton of races every weekend which means the professional field is well spread out in the country and most of the times they avoid some races so they won't be challenged. Brands support not only who wins the most - regional or national wise - but also who makes a name for himself by showing up every time and being social active.
With this in mind I try to compare Europe with the US. Athletes in Europe work more as a group, a squad. They know they need someone to push themselves every single day out there so they can become better. They set their minds in being the best there is. You know in advanced that if you want to make a living out of it in Europe, you need to be really good. No wonder Great-Britain, France and Germany have produced some of the World's best. There's more pressure and a lot more hard work. They swim, bike, run everyday as their job knowing that if they fail it may be the end of a career in the sport. They want to win more than anything. They want to show themselves in races and win the biggest races, the ones with the deepest field cause that's the only way brands in the US will notice them. They don't care if you are the most well-known athlete in your town or 'hood, they toe the line with everything they have to crush you. Brands in the US will care if you make the cover of a magazine but for that, most of the times, you need to be impressive.
Triathlon in the US is seen as a true professional occupation and you can write that under the "current job" field. You get sponsored fairly more easy from the start of your career and you start to get comfortable. Being the best in triathlete isn't in your mind and producing results "just good enough" that will garantee you a bonus from your sponsor starts to be enough. Becoming a coach in the US is also a reality and so whenever you quit your life as a professional triathlete, you can always become a coach. Not saying it is always like this but things look easy. The AG races in the US are won by amateurs. AG races in Europe are won by world class triathletes.
Looking at Portugal, I see that most of the kids at the Olympic Training Center don't have enough motivation to become the best they can be. They are hugely talented but they don't see triathlon as a future mostly because of all the reasons I stated above. You ask them where they see themselves in five-years and they will reply having a job (not sports related) and settled. When a kid like those at the OTC in Portugal has put his mind in the sport, sticking with a long term plan, committed himself to triathlon for a handful of years and was consistent in training even if all the odds were against him, he has become great. That was when this little country produced Vanessa Fernandes, Bruno Pais and João Silva. Once kids who even if things went wrong, even if triathlon was not seen as a professional sport, they took the chance, sticked with it for another try and emerged.
