Moustgaard’s short-course dominance expected to continue at new Algoma District triathlon

 

(c/o Greater Wanup Observer, Bob Arnold, local sports correspondent, interview dated July 18, 2023)

 

Wagering on age-group triathlon racing is a relatively new, but growing segment of the online sports betting market. The unpredictable training, lax athlete drug screening, and heroic scenes of recreational athletes giving their all has found a niche among betting experts and statisticians, who meticulously comb race stats and athletes' social media activity to predict outcomes.  And if the latest sports betting odds coming out of Las Vegas-based online sports betting website ‘Draft Kings’ are to be believed, then these experts are betting heavily that M. ‘The Hammer’ Moustgaard will continue her hot streak at the upcoming Copper Town Triathlon in Bruce Mines Ontario this coming Sunday.  

 

Competing in the F70 age group, and known for her lightning-fast transitions and rock-steady pacing, Moustgaard has been a consistent medal-winner in the Eastern-Ontario triathlon scene.  Coming off of first place finishes in both the 2019 and 2022 TriMuskokan Triathlon in Huntsville Ontario, Moustgaard started the 2023 season strong, with a 2nd place finish at the Sudbury Rocks 5km road race, and then defending her title with an unanswerable 1st place victory again in Huntsville.  In between dominating the local triathlon circuit, she has also made several impressive appearances in the Ontario Masters Swimming Provincials, including some exclusive invitation-only races.
 

We met up with Moustgaard after a 4am open water swim at her sprawling Lake Panache training compound and asked her about the new Algoma District triathlon: 

 

“I’m looking forward to the race, but it’s a shame this new Copper Town tri is going with a trickle-start rather than a traditional mass start.  I was hoping to mix-it-up in the washing machine with the other competitors.” said Moustgaard. “The rough-and-tumble nature of the mass starts plays to my strengths, and I built my yearly training around scraping my way to the front-of-the-pack”.

 

When asked for details of her specific training for the upcoming race, she answered, “Our masters swim program has a wide lane reserved for triathletes, and it’s a bit of a cage-fight, with everyone looking to polish their open-water-swimming mass-start tactics”, she grinned, “but, I give as good as I get, or better!” 

 

“It was actually in the pool at masters swimming where I earned the nickname ‘The Hammer’ ” she said, “after a couple of jousts with one particular yellow-capped youngster.  But racing fans heard the name and it just kind of stuck.”

 

Our reporter asked if she was going to try anything new for the upcoming race:
 
“At my age your health is a bit of a science experiment, with medical advisors always putting me on this-or-that, or teammates bringing the latest supplements from Florida or Mexico.  Luckily, experience has taught me that the field-test kits they administer to athletes for in-competition testing have a ton of false positives, so you can usually argue your way out if you piss hot.  Besides, we can usually get a TUE for anything else that doesn’t clear our system in a few weeks.” (editors note: TUE or Therapeutic Use Exception is the common practice of elite athletes getting a medical exception for the in-competition use of performance enhancing substances).

Our sponsor Draft Kings wishes M. ‘The Hammer’ Moustgaard and all other competitors good luck in Sunday’s race, and to “know your limit, play within it”.