Triathlete Sam Dickinson chose to only focus on today while injured – and today’s today sees him selected for a first Olympic Games.
The 26-year-old began the 2023 season with a stress response that kept him out of competing until August.
He also faced a race against time to force himself into contention for the squad for Paris 2024, but this is a race he won.
“The Olympics is always in the back of your mind,” the York native said. “But what I really focused on is what I can do today to get better for tomorrow.
“And following that process and not getting overwhelmed with it means I can sit here having been selected and this is my today and I am looking forward to my tomorrow.”
Dickinson has been added to the triathlon squad alongside reigning gold medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown, with Alex Yee and Beth Potter having been announced last year.
His qualification odyssey took him to the far reaches of the world with a gruelling schedule at the end of last year and into 2024.
Dickinson competed in three races in three weeks across China, South Korea and Japan in October.
He then travelled to Chile before hot footing it to Agadir seven days late to conclude the 2023 season,
He then opened this year in New Zealand to tick off his fifth continent as part of a seven-month journey.
He added: “That was hard and I wouldn’t advise that for anyone but with the position I was in, I had to go out and put some scores on the board.
“It is great in one sense to get some good experience and to race all over the place, you learn a lot about your body and what you can and can’t do.
“You then regroup for the winter, take all of that experience into this year and that all helps you prepare to get it right when it matters.
“It’s not over until it’s over, I knew that it was a strong case to be selected, but I certainly wasn’t counting my chickens.”
Dickinson is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – this is vital for her pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
His qualification campaign concluded back in Europe, and with a kick on the final 200m in Poland, he saw off his inspiration Jonathan Brownlee, beating him to gold and a spot on the Olympic team.
It means that there will not be a Brownlee brother at the Games for the first time since Athens 2004.
Alistair made his debut in Beijing 2008 with Jonathan joining him four years later and between them they won five Olympic medals.
University of Leeds graduate Dickinson has spent the last few years training alongside the brothers in their home city, with the two giving their name to the UK's only dedicated triathlon centre on the outskirts of Leeds.
“They’ve been true inspirations really,” Dickinson added. “I remember watching London 2012 back in the day and that is what got me into triathlon.
“They are a big reason why I chose to go to university in Leeds and train in that environment.
“You can see how they have been the best in the business, they are true professionals. Everything is swim bike run and they certainly train very hard, so it has been very useful for me.
“They’ve been fantastic for the sport, growing the sport, especially in Yorkshire, and I am looking forward to carrying on the mantle now.”
Dickinson took up triathlon aged 16, a relative latecomer compared with Yee who got into the sport as an eight-year-old.
The older of the two, Dickinson had a running background, also swimming as a youngster, but his skills on the bike have become invaluable.
He served as a domestique to eventual champion Yee at the Commonwealth Games, doing the same earlier this year as Yee won again in Cagliari.
The pair have teamed up in other ways too, winning mixed team gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the two are in line to do the same as Team GB defend their title in Paris 2024.
Dickinson knows he can learn from the experience of his teammates around him but will also rely on his time as the reserve at Tokyo 2020.
He said: “I’ve been around a few teams with them all, at Commonwealth Games and we’ve raced in plenty of World Series relays together, so to be able to do it on the big stage is exciting.
“I have also been to Tokyo as the reserve, so I was there on the ground and went through all the processes apart from the actual race.
"Tokyo has prepared me very well, if you can deal with a Covid Olympics, Paris will throw its own challenges, but you’ve got to roll with the punches.
“We’ve been through it all together before and that Commonwealth Games experience, that major Games, really helped too so I am just looking forward to getting to work with those top-class athletes.
“I need to be the best I can be, on that day, when it matters, that’s all my expectations are, I’ve got nothing tangible at the moment but that is not how I work.
“I work more in processes, and I know what I need to do to get it right and the team around me and the athletes around me believe in me, which is always really nice, so I am just looking forward to go out and delivering my best performance when it matters.”
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