Quitting Short Course for Ironman with Natalie Van Coevorden

About this episode

Natalie Van Coevorden shares her journey from Olympic disappointment to success in long course triathlon.

Natalie was close to walking away from triathlon altogether after the disappointment of Paris Olympics. Then everything changed. In this episode, she opens up about the low point, the mindset shift, and how she turned it into an explosive start in long course with two straight 70.3 wins and podiums in more 50% of races in 2025. This is the raw story of what happens when an elite athlete rebuilds, backs herself, and finds joy in racing again. 0:00 Natalie is back 0:18 The Tokyo heartbreak 1:33 Paris dream, tough reality 3:21 Why the Olympics went wrong 4:09 The coaching chaos behind it all 6:07 Commonwealth Games medal memories 8:00 The post-Paris crash 9:02 Why long course saved her love for triathlon 10:08 The coach and training setup that changed everything 11:21 Winning sick at Geelong 12:47 Port Mac and the early momentum 13:36 Vomiting before races from pressure 15:05 Three wins and six podiums in year one 16:38 Confidence, execution, and racing free 18:45 The biggest long-course training changes 19:09 500km bike weeks and full TT focus 20:42 Why she runs less than people think 21:43 Swim sessions that keep her sharp 23:44 Inside a pro week of training 26:22 The brick…

People in this episode

Guest: Natalie Van Coevorden

Topics covered

• triathlon
• mindset shift
• long course racing
• Olympics disappointment
• athlete recovery
• training strategies

Keywords

• Ironman
• 70.3 wins
• podiums
• training changes
• confidence
• injury setback
• fueling mistakes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Geelong, Port Mac

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