It was a wet and misty morning on Amager Strandpark August 15 2010 and the inaugural full-distance triathlon in the heart of Copenhagen was only minutes away.

The night had proven to be tough on the race. A large thunderstorm flooded the Danish capital and a couple of hours before nobody even knew if there would be an inaugural race in Copenhagen or if the destructions from the flooding had been too devastating.

On that morning the Danish legend and bon vivant, Jørgen Leth, was invited to give a motivational speech to the 1600 staring athletes.

Jørgen Leth is a man of many things; a poet, a writer, an aesthete, a lover, a father, a famous Tour de France commentator. One thing he for sure is not, is a man of mornings. But he was there that morning on Amager Strandpark at 6.45 am in all its chaos and drama.

These are his words, and this is why “This is not a tea party” is engraved on the back of your finish medal.

“This is not a tea party”

English translation (Danish original below)

Dear athletes

I have been asked to hold a motivational speech for you. But how am I supposed to do that at this heinous time and with my background?

I can not swim, I hate cold water. I have a long time ago ceased to run after anything. I have not cycled since my youth when I was doing some bike racing.

But I understand cycling racing and it must be my starting point today. I admire athletes who get up early and do their sport to the extreme. Their commitment I have learned to appreciate in professional cycling, where riders strangle themselves on the steepest mountains.

Recently, I also got a personal insight into the triathletes everyday routine. It is indeed a very special form for madness. I have been in the company of my commentator colleague and good friend Rolf Sorensen in the Tour de France. He spent every morning before the TV transmissions to train for the Ironman. Every day he did something different and with a different dress code. Most mornings he took his custom-built race bike, which of course suits him, and drove off on a longer trip.

But some mornings he shocked me by saying that now he had to run, for example, 30 km. It was always a nerve-wracking waiting if he would make it for the transmission. But generally he did make it, sweaty and at worst, he could take the first transmission in the outfit he had been out to do his workout in. A few other days he was out swimming, wherever it was possible in the rugged Massif Central.

I have wondered, what could get a sports man who was a star, a specialist in his field and who have had a brilliant career – what could get him to suddenly throw himself upon several opposing disciplines and such a tremendously demanding training program?
It was as if he had sentenced himself to a punishment. In theology language it is called a penitence. To seek the truth through deprivation and suffering.

It reminds me of Leonard Cohen, who spent seven years of his life in a Zen Buddhism monastery – yes pardon the comparison – but it also lead to something. There is something very beautiful, I have always believed, to challenge yourself, move your own borders. The beauty of it is the irrationality in the project. Sport inner soul is not healthy. It is all about drama, testing of own courage.

I have said it myself very often that cycle sport is not a tea party – and that goes well as much of the ironman. The word “ironman” – yes it reminds one invariably about Schwarzenegger – terminator – destruction. You can see metal surfaces fly of the body. A man who whips himself through a rough lake. A super human. Men who toil their legs in a myriad of different running styles.

And here in the Ironman competition one can immediately measure the huge differences. There’s nothing like a peloton. The bursting of the group as we always want to see at the great stages of the Tour de France, where the strong stand and the less powerful fall as soon as the road ascents. This happens immediately in the Ironman field. Since it is rare to see some go together. This is the lonely rider and the extreme individualism. The precipitation is inexorable and multiplied just by that there are such diverse requirements for athletes in the three disciplines.

Perhaps I stand after all, not so far from the triathlete’s inner steal. I understand what it is that drives a human being to do the impossible – to overcome resistance – to break barriers – to find new frontiers – to measure themselves and challenge others. In this continuous match you are alone. One must find the substance inside themselves. You have to dig deep, and when you dig deep you can find gold.

This is not a tea party

Good luck. Now I will go home and get some sleep.

“Dette er ikke et teselskab”

Dansk original

Kære atleter

Jeg er blevet bedt om at holde en motivationstale til jer. Men hvordan skal jeg kunne det på det her afskyelige tidspunkt og med min baggrund ?

Jeg kan ikke svømme, jeg hader koldt vand.
Jeg er for længe tid siden holdt op med at løbe efter noget som helst.
Jeg har ikke cyklet siden min ungdom, hvor jeg kørte lidt cykelløb.

Men jeg har forstand på cykelløb og det må blive mit udgangspunkt i dag. Jeg beundrer atleter som står tidligt op, og som dyrker deres sport til det ekstreme. Netop deres engagement, ikke det med at stå tidligt op, har jeg lært at værdsætte i den professionelle cykelsport, hvor rytterne fx kvæler sig selv på de stejleste bjerge.

For nylig har jeg så også fået et personligt indblik i triatletens hverdag. Det er jo en meget speciel form for vanvid. Jeg har været i selskab med min kommentatorkollega og gode ven Rolf Sørensen i Tour de France. Han brugte hver formiddag inden transmissionerne til at træne til ironman. Hver dag gjorde han noget forskelligt og så forskellig ud i påklædningen. De fleste morgener tog han sin specialbyggede racercykel, som jo klæder ham, og kørte ud på en længere tur.

Men nogle morgener chokerede han mig ved at sige, at nu skulle han løbe fx 30 km. Det var altid nervepirrende at vente på, om han kom frem til studietid. Men det gjorde han jo i reglen, sveddryppende og i værste fald kunne han tage den første stand-up i den mundering han nu havde været ude at træne i. Enkelte andre dage var han ude at svømme, hvor det nu kunne lade sig gøre i det knortede Massif Central.

Jeg har undret mig over, hvad der kunne få en sportsmand, der i for vejen var en stjerne og en specialist på sit felt og som har haft en strålende karriere simpelthen – hvad der kunne få ham til pludselig at kaste sig over flere modsatrettede discipliner og et så uhyre krævende træningsprogram.
Det var som om han havde idømt sig selv en straf. Det man i teologiens sprog kalder en pønitense. Nå frem til sandheden gennem afsavn og lidelse.

Det minder mig om Leonard Cohen som tilbragte 7 år af sit liv i et zenbuddhistisk kloster – ja undskyld sammenligningen – men det førte jo også til noget. Der er noget meget smukt, har jeg altid syntes, ved at udfordre sig selv, flytte sine egne grænser. Det smukke ved det er ufornuften i projektet. Sportens inderste sjæl er ikke sund. Den handler om drama, testning af eget mod.

Som jeg selv ofte har sagt det, så er cykelsporten ikke et the-selskab – og det gælder vel i lige så høj grad for ironman’en. Ordet ”ironman” – ja det minder jo uvægerligt om Schwarzenegger – terminator – destruktion. Man kan se metalflader flyve af kroppen. Et menneske der pisker sig gennem en oprørt sø. Et supermenneske. Mænd der slider benene af sig i et utal af vidt forskellige løbestilarter.

Og her i ironman-konkurrencen kan man jo med det samme udmåle kæmpeforskelle. Der er ikke noget med at komme ind i samlet felt. Den sprængning af gruppen som vi altid ønsker at se på de gode etaper i Tour de France, hvor de stærke skiller sig af med de mindre stærke, så snart det går opad. Ja den spredning, den sker jo umiddelbart i Ironman-feltet. Da er det sjældent, at man ser nogle følges ad. Det her er the lonely rider og ekstrem individualisme. Udskilningen er ubønhørlig og multipliceres netop ved ,at der er så store forskelligartede krav til atleterne i de tre discipliner.

Måske står jeg, når alt kommer til alt, ikke så langt fra triatletens inderste stjæl. Jeg forstår godt, hvad det er, der driver et menneske til at gøre det umulige – til at overvinde modstand – til at bryde barrierer – til at finde nye grænser – til at måle sig med sig selv og udfordre de andre. I denne kontinuerlige match. Der er man alene. Man skal finde stoffet inde i sig selv. Man skal grave dybt, og når man graver dybt kan man finde guld.

Dette er ikke et teselskab

Held og lykke. Nu går jeg hjem og sover.