USA Triathlon Honors Hall of Fame Inductees

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Triathlon inducted five of multisport's most influential persons into its Hall of Fame on Saturday in a memorable banquet at The Broadmoor resort.

Nearly 200 family members, friends, coaches, race directors and USAT staff came out to honor inductees Jim Curl, Carl Thomas, Barb Lindquist, Valerie Silk and Paula Newby-Fraser as they shared stories, laughs and their love of triathlon.

The expansion of triathlon from its Southern California roots in the early 1980s to its position today as one nation's fastest-growing sports was evident in the remarks of each inductee.

Following dinner, the "Jim Curl Show" kicked off the program, as Curl and Thomas reflected on their days as two of the most influential race directors triathlon has even seen. 

"It's a great honor. It scares the heck out of you, because you've gotta get up and give a speech in front of 200 people in the industry, of which 40 of them are the most important people around for the last 30 years," said Curl, who also introduced Thomas just minutes after his own induction speech. 

"There were people in that room that I knew 25 years ago, people that started things as great as anything that's been started. So I was tense, I was honored. The strongest feeling was gratitude and the ability to be with all these people again, which doesn't happen very often."

Lindquist, who was introduced by her husband, coach and manager, Loren, was quick to credit all her successes, which included a trip to the 2004 Olympic Games, to the people she worked with throughout her career.

Currently USAT's collegiate recruitment coordinator, Lindquist said her "passion was still afire" for triathlon despite ending her competitive days to raise her young twin sons.

Silk was unable to attend the ceremony, but Mike Reilly shared her heartfelt comments and offered words of congratulations to each her fellow inductees.  

Newby-Fraser "changed the perceptions of what a female athlete can accomplish," according to Bob Babbitt, who introduced the eight-time Ironman champion. She encouraged triathlon's "new faces to keep pushing the sport forward."

"It's huge. It's hard to put into words, just because I've had - and still have - such a long and varied experience with triathlon and USAT ... This is the culmination of a lot of different things, so it's extremely special," Newby-Fraser said after the ceremony.

The inductees began their memorable day Saturday at an intimate luncheon at The Broadmoor's Donald Ross Room. This event gave some of the biggest names in triathlon an opportunity to reminisce about the early days of the sport and tell a few tall tales before the evening's formal ceremony.  

With USAT's Art & Science Symposium and Race Director Symposium also in full swing, the day got off to a running start long before the Hall of Fame activities.

After scores of brave runners ventured out for the 6:30 a.m. start of The Broadmoor Classic Fun Run/Walk, famed adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, who was the first blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest and went on to reach the highest point of each of the seven continents, opened day two of the symposium with an inspirational talk.

"When we change our thinking and approach to life, we can climb to new heights," says Weihenmayer, who enthralled the crowd with photos and videos from his varied expeditions and spread his message about reaching for summits as tangible goals.

Following Weihenmayer's talk, he took time to sign copies of his book, "Touch the Top of the World," and the symposium attendees took in wide-ranging presentations for the rest of the morning and afternoon.

First-year race director Patrick McGee of Tampa, Fla., has already seen the benefit of attending USAT's symposium. "It's been great. I've enjoyed every minute of it," he said. "The best part is interacting with all the coaches and different race directors around here, learning from them, sharing knowledge, gaining knowledge and listening to all the great speakers."

Highlights from each of this weekend's presentations can be found at the Hall of Fame and Symposium page on usatriathlon.org.

Links

Photo gallery

Day 1 recap