“Angry” Sam Long embraces the juxtaposition of the underdog and favorite titles as he chases victory in the T100 at home in Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old sits fifth in the PTO T100 overall rankings after his lowest placing of 11th in London before missing the series leg in Ibiza last month, but is now set for a return to middle distance at Nevada.
The American has big ambitions at home and wants to channel his frustrations positively as he returns to the T100 series for the first time in two months at Lake Las Vegas.
“I would say I’m both an underdog and a favorite,” he said.
“I think it’s the narrative you create in your own head to get the most out of yourself.
“I have anger in me right now. I have frustration. I need a place to channel that anger and frustration and it’s all heading towards Vegas.
“I have a very, very clear and concrete goal of how I want to perform in Vegas, and I’m pretty confident in that level of performance. I think it’s the best course for me to win.”
Long will look to replicate his early season form which saw him claim back-to-back second places in the first two events of the year.
Happy to present himself as one of the weaker swimmers in the field, Long is known to pick up the pace in the latter stages of the race, constantly battling on the bike and run.
It’s a tactic he’s happy to have mastered in 2024, proving that his weakness can’t stop him from becoming the best in the world.
“Any time you have a big weakness in the T100 areas, it will be shown and it will be visible,” he said.
“You can watch it and you go, I’m leading by such an incredible margin and I’m up against the best in the world. There’s no possible way to come back from this. And I’ve been doing it for years.
“I always pushed really hard on that bike to get into the race, but at that point I got tired and passed out during the race.
“This year we saw a transformation in me and I was able to push the bike as hard as I did the run.”
Long returns to the T100 in Vegas after a busy and rewarding year outside of the triathlon world.
The 28-year-old became a father just days after the London T100 and noted the challenges of balancing parenthood and competing at the highest level.
But with the mental urge to compete for his son driving him back to the starting line, Long is excited about what awaits him in Vegas.
“For me, this year has been much more focused on my personal life than my professional life,” he said.
“The first year of my son’s life; we got married in December and bought a house in April.
“So it’s just a stage of life, another stage of life – and at the same time I have to compete at the highest level every day.
“I think I did an amazing job doing all of that. Normally you see a big drop in results when people do all of those things, and I was able to be up there.
“I would say life has actually pushed me harder in terms of development than triathlon racing.”