HARRY Coates is a world triathlon champion, but the 23-year-old Wallsend Harrier thinks his success has come two years too late for him to compete at a home Olympics.
Coates won the inaugural ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships in Extremadura, Spain, earlier this month, but the off-road specialist insists having fun remains his chief focus.
He thinks a freak injury at Durham University two years ago has denied him the chance of making a late sprint for the start line at the 2012 Olympics.
He said: “I grew up on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales, and I got into fell and mountain running.
“It was not until I was at university I started doing triathlons.
“One of my mates was the captain of the university team and he asked me to go along and make up the numbers. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.
“If I had started two years earlier, maybe I would have had a chance of making the Olympics.
“In my final year at university (2008-09) I was looking towards it, but I fell down the stairs the day before the British Championships and I was off for six months with four damaged ligaments in my ankle.”
Coates spent nine months in New Zealand after university, returning to the North East to take up a job as a bridge engineer with Aecom in Newcastle.
He credits his dramatic improvement to joining Wallsend Harriers. He said: “My running has come along so much since I joined Wallsend in February.
“I was a guest runner with them from October. They are a great bunch of people to train with, and Steve O’Gara is an excellent coach. I swim and cycle with the guys from Tyne Tri Club, but running is by far my strongest discipline.
“I am not the tallest in the world, so that gives me an advantage on the bike because I am a lot more nimble than some.
“I tend to be outclassed a bit in the pool sometimes but when I am on the bike and on someone’s shoulder, I am confident I can beat them.”
His running earned Coates gold in Spain. Starting two minutes behind the race leader, a phenomenal 6km run of 21.18 saw him come out on top by two minutes, 27 seconds.
Competing for Great Britain in the amateur age category 20-24, his total time of 1:44.07 was only bettered by five of the 273 other athletes at the Championships.
He was fourth in the swim in 14.38 and moved up to second after finishing the bike ride in 1:06.19. Coates added: “It has not really sunk in yet. It feels exactly the same as it did before I won it, the only difference is I have a medal at home.”
After the race, coach O’Gara said: “Harry is a special talent with a heart like a lion, so we were always confident this gut-wrenching format would play to his strengths.
“Unusually in an individual sport, Harry is very much a team player.
“He is also Wallsend’s prize asset, this victory represents the best achievement yet in our proud club’s renaissance.”
While the talent is clearly there to achieve greater things, Coates seems determined to keep his amateur ethos.
He said: “I am never going to get paid for it, so I have just been having fun.
“It is only since January I have settled down because I have had a decent goal to aim for with Spain.
“I am doing the Scott X-Tri Series, racing against professionals from Britain, and I want to get into the Elite Off-Road Championships.”
