Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him 🍿 Sam Laidlow's Story

People's impression of me was a bit like Marmite in a sense, like people would love me or hate me. Sam Laidlow, 23 years of age, he has caused a rather large ruckus this week. I haven't won nothing compared to you two guys and I'm still going to be here. There's a degree of respect that's become the sport. I think you take it too seriously. What's up Sam Long, don't get me wrong but you ain't that strong. I don't think I need to shy away from a bit of banter. The only thing I did wrong in my eyes was not win that battle. I was actually quite reserved as a kid, quite timid. I used to enjoy riding my bike here in the mountains and I didn't necessarily feel the need to be with people. I just generally enjoyed training. From a very early age I've always been quite driven and known what I wanted, which was to be the best in the sport and I've kind of dipped in and out of having that kind of confidence. I have a younger brother who's ten years younger and he's naturally very confident. I think I stole some of his confidence in a way or I certainly learnt from him. I did my first triathlon when I was four years old, which is probably the youngest ever. I think you had to be six or seven to do it normally, but we knew the organisers and we said it's okay, you can do it as long as your dad follows you during the race. They gave me a toy Porsche, so hopefully one day if I win enough prize money I can buy a real Porsche, but I'm not at that level yet. When I was 13 I decided to move away from home and go to boarding school to do triathlon and then I kind of dipped my toe in short course, had some good opportunities there. I was racing on the French Grand Prix circuit when I was 14. I was already on a start line with Alistair Brownlee and Gomez. I then kind of had enough with it, with the short course. I came back home, asked my dad to coach me and said, listen, I want to make it to the top. Whether it takes me three years or ten years or even if I don't make it, I'd rather try and fail. People have won the World Champs or won big races, but few have done it, if any, being coached by their dad. That's certainly what makes my journey a bit more unique. I don't think my dad's the best coach in the world, but I definitely think he's the best coach for me and that's all that counts. In the lead up to the Collins Cup, first of all let's bring it back, I was on training camp with a mate and I know some beat came on on Spotify and we just started rapping about the Collins Cup. We thought it was funny, other people didn't. That was even more exaggerated when I arrived there at the Collins Cup. Obviously all the athletes are there, which is pretty unique. We see each other at the dinner table and I definitely put my name out there. That's because both me and my dad, who coaches me, we generally thought that I could beat them and I still do. I don't think I need to shy away from a bit of banter. I've done it in the past with friends and I think if it would have been anybody else, they would have just given it back. I think the sport needs a bit of it to be honest. There's going to be more and more people that come in with bigger personalities and that's exactly what it needs. The sport can't evolve without the athletes which are at the centre stage. As I said, I'm just going to keep being me and see where that takes me. I was just there having fun and I'll continue to just do my thing, whether it's in the rulebook or not. It was really tough post-Collins Cup with my family. They came to the Collins Cup actually, which made it even worse because I felt like I could brush myself off quite quickly and just go and have a few beers and it would be over with. But seeing them down was obviously the hardest thing for me. I do it for us, for the family name. I felt like the biggest humiliation and that's what I want to put to rights more than anything else. I want to show who we are as a family and make sure the values that we share are the right ones. I don't necessarily feel like that was what I did in Collins Cup. This ring is my mum's old jewellery that I convinced her to melt and get engraved with the coordinates of the Kona finish line. And what does that mean to you? It means everything. Whether I achieve it or not, we'll see. But it certainly makes me want to achieve it and I guess that's all that counts, the whole journey to getting there with the family. The Sport of Triathlon has given me so many good memories already, even though I'm 23. But most importantly, it's just taught me that if you want something and you're stubborn enough, you can achieve it. I haven't achieved fully what I want in the sport, but I've already achieved a lot more than what some people would have thought is possible. I've always been on the cusp of achieving something and that's a difficult position because you don't have necessarily the results to back it up. But I think we've always had, both my family and I, that little bit of hope and that hope comes mainly from me. I have to drive that. I have to drive that hope and I have to show my team that I'm confident and that I do believe in myself. I just need to now look at it as a job like any other job. There's good days, there's bad days. You just move on and grow and learn from the bad days. That's why I said even this result at the Collins Cup, which obviously was a massive blow for me to lose, I genuinely feel like I needed that beating to grow as an athlete and as a human. I feel like I have an ability to make my dreams become a reality. I don't know if it's because I'm just stubborn or what, but I'm a guy who dreams at day and not at night. I can never remember my dreams, but I certainly have some big dreams through the day that somewhere along the line, up until now, they've happened. I just want to bring myself, try and represent me and my family to the very top, the values that we share. I don't want to take myself too seriously and I really want to enjoy it and show that I'm enjoying it. The moment of winning a race isn't what you remember. What you remember is having a drink on the beach with some people that you've just, I don't know, raced or the after parties or the moments before a race where you're just having a small chat or when you're with family and you're celebrating a race. For me, that's what you remember. For me, it's not just about the swimming, biking and running. It's about enjoying what I do and at the moment when I go to bed at night, I'm generally content. My lifestyle is pretty cool and I have my family with me. We're all healthy and that's pretty unique. I think triathlon is relatively small and so whatever I achieve, when I finish my career, I want it to have had a bigger impact than the sport itself. I think triathlon for me is just my platform to share my values and be able to give back, I guess, in a way. I don't really care about being seen as the best triathlete. That's kind of why I like coming back here where I live. I mean, I could win Kona and come back here and the neighbour wouldn't give a fuck about it. You can be the best in the world and still have your feet on the ground. I've learnt lately to really enjoy whatever this road is to get to the top. I want to use this platform, which is triathlon, to have a bigger goal and make sure that I feel content once I finish my career because I don't feel I would be content necessarily with just a few race wins.