Michelle Vesterby, future Ironman world champion?

Michelle Vesterby is a young promising triathlete from Denmark who recently hired Luc Van Lierde, two-times Hawaii Ironman winner, as a coach. Luc is also the coach of the current Ironman World Champion, Frederik Van Lierde (not related). So the natural question we wanted to ask her team is: can she (really) be world champion next October?

TOJ: Jacky, this girl is so young, there's no way she can be crowned world champion this autumn, let's face it.

Jacky Everaerdt (her agent)‎: She's young, you're right but she also has a lot of potential. She was 8th last year. This also means that she has some time ahead of her to progress and learn, especially at Kona. She'll do Kona this year and no matter what happens there, it will benefit her. I'm not saying she'll win this year, let's be very clear. Let's not forget that it took most of the Kona champions a few years of racing in Kona to establish themselves as leaders and winners (Mc Cormack, Alexander, Van Lierde).

TOJ: OK, point taken. Now, what is Luc Van Lierde going to teach her? More specifically, what are her weakness that she would have to work on with him?

‎JE : Luc is going to give her new objectives and new ways to get where she needs to be which is at the top of the long distance world elite. Together their goal is to be able to reach every race with her potential being at 100%. If she wins, fine. If she doesn't win all the time, Luc will teach her how to make the best of it.

TOJ: What are Luc's qualities as a coach?

JE: ‎Luc will start by learning more about who she is, what is her personality and where precisely she needs to work more. Right now he's testing her so he'll be able to teach her different stuff that what she's been doing in the past. Luc has a lot of experience, there's not many coaches out there that can claim that. He's won Kona twice so he knows what he's talking about. He will help her be more rigorous in training and approach races with precise objectives. He will work with her in a way that she is able to focus on some races only and not try to do it all. Focusing on gaining experiences and winning is the goal here right now.

Place: New Delhi, India