While the Olympics were already under way in Greece for thousands of athletes last Sunday, Conrad Stoltz was nearly 10,000 miles away in Big Bear, Calif., placing second at the Xterra West Championship off-road triathlon.

Stoltz, a South African triathlete who trained in Bend this summer, will have 10 days to rest and prepare for the Olympic triathlon competition in Athens, scheduled for Aug. 26 at midnight PDT.

Stoltz finished the race in Big Bear in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 17 seconds, just 20 seconds behind winner Sylvain Dodet of France (2:19:57). Kerry Classen of Bend was fourth (2:22:27).

The Xterra race included a 1>-kilometer swim, a 32-kilometer mountain bike ride and a 10-kilometer forest trail run.

Stoltz has experienced frequent success in off-road triathlons. He won the Xterra World Championship in Maui in 2001 and 2002, and he won eight consecutive off-road triathlons in 2003.

Competing in the Olympic Triathlon – 1>-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer road bike and 10-kilometer road run – will be a change of pace for Stoltz, who has made a career out of being a strong cyclist, especially on dirt single track, where drafting is never really a factor. However, drafting is legal in the Olympics, making for a tightly contested bike leg among competitors.

”It’s very different,” Stoltz said of the Olympic triathlon in an interview earlier this summer. ”It’s not really an event I excel at. My swimming and running is average. The Olympics will be a very big gamble, but they’re a lifetime experience.”

Stoltz finished 20th in the triathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, where triathlon made its debut as an Olympic sport.

Classen – who went back and forth with Stoltz in Big Bear before finally being caught by the South African on the run leg – said that Stoltz has little chance for a medal.

”Conrad’s a great athlete, but the way the Olympics are, with drafting legal, you have to be an unbelievably fast runner,” said Classen, who has trained with Stoltz in Bend. ”You can’t use a strong bike leg to get away, and biking is Conrad’s strength.

”Conrad is an extremely technically skilled rider. He rides unbelievably fast down technical single track. He caught me coming downhill (in Big Bear), and I was hanging on for dear life.”

Classen said that he will definitely watch the Olympic triathlon on television, scheduled for NBC’s primetime coverage on Aug. 26 (8 p.m. to midnight PDT).

”I know just about everybody in the race,” Classen said, adding that he considers Simon Whitfield of Canada to be the favorite.

Classen also said that Hunter Kemper of Florida is the American with the best shot at a medal.

Whatever happens in Athens, Stoltz will likely return to Bend to finish his summer training.

”It’s really important to me to be happy where you are,” Stoltz said. ”I’ve found that in Bend. The small-town atmosphere appeals to me. It’s easy to make friends. Everybody knows each other.”

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