Kristian Blummenfelt

Kristian Blummenfelt is known as the biggest trainer on the triathlon scene, and his huge engine has powered him to Olympic glory. As a child, Kristian shunned the traditional winter sports of his hometown of Bergen, Norway, favouring swimming and running. As a junior, he was a real talent in both: the water and on dry land and competed in the 2011 Junior European Cross Country Championships. Shortly after this, he added biking to the mix and quickly ploughed a furrow as a triathlete with wins at ITU junior events in Brno, Tabor, and Antalya.

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His success as an elite came very quickly as he announced himself on the world stage with a bronze medal at the 2015 European Championships. His distinctive stature and all-effort style have marked him out as a fan favourite ever since. Kristian’s training regime is known to be one of the most gruelling in the sport. A high VO2 max and lung capacity have also helped power him to success across multiple distances at a relatively young age.

In 2017, a year after his Olympic debut in Rio, where he finished 13th, Kristian’s focus was still entirely on short course racing, and he started to regularly podium on the WTS scene. He also took the win at Super League Triathlon Jersey. However, despite a string of medals and being part of an incredible Norwegian 1-2-3 along with Gustav Iden and Casper Stornes at WTS Bermuda in 2018, it took until 2019 for him to take a WTS title. That came at the World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne and has been followed up by a hugely impressive return to racing in 2021 with back-to-back wins in Yokohama and Lisbon.

During that time, Kristian was not just looking at short course racing but also combining it with middle distance – with stunning results. Kristian secured the title at Ironman 70.3 Bahrain in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2018 he set a new world record over the distance of 3:29:04. He bettered it in 2019 with a new Ironman 70.3 world record time of 3:25:21.

But all these achievements paled into insignificance when he produced a stunning performance to win the men’s triathlon event and collect a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

He is now also looking at qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Away from racing, Kristian enjoys cooking and listening to the latest top 50 on Spotify.