Are great coaches born or made by their athletes? The path to high-level triathlon coaching

Abstract

Regarding the coach’s importance in the sports system and in their athletes’ outcomes, expert coaches’ keys for success have been studied from different approaches. One of these approaches is the retrospective research of the path to the high performance level. The aim of this study was to describe the triathlon coaches’ path, previous to the high performance stage, and the circumstances in which the step to the high level was achieved. 14 high level triathlon coaches were interviewed. Results show a usual way, in which the coach was previously an athlete and coach in any discipline related to triathlon (swimming, cycling, endurance athletics), starting the high performance stage at the approximate age of 30. Previous average experience to high level stage depends on the coaches’ background, but it is never more than 10 years. In order to select expert coaches samples, it would be recommended to set the previous experience years taking into account the sport context.