Q&A With Triathlete Hunter Kemper

By Eric Ransom Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Hunter Kemper should be easy to spot at the U.S. Open Triathlon this weekend. He’ll be near the front, if not leading the pack. The 31-year-old competed at the Sydney and Athens Olympics and is working toward qualifying for the Beijing Games.

The Open is the final event of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series, which had races in Minneapolis, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. This is the first U.S. Open for the sport and has a field of 2,000.

The Open starts Sunday morning with a 1,500-meter swim in Joe Pool Lake, a 40-kilometer bike ride toward Reunion Arena and ends with a 10-kilometer run through downtown Dallas. Along with series leaders Greg Bennett and Craig Walton, Kemper hopes to win this weekend; the top male and female finishers each win $60,000.

Kemper was the first American male triathlete to be ranked No. 1 in the world and the first triathlete to appear on a box of Wheaties.

How many times have you raced in Dallas?
The 2000 U.S. Olympic trials were in Dallas. It was the first Olympic Games for our sport. I think the course was in Irving and around that area. It was a real challenging course, very warm day in the summertime.

Have you heard much about the course?
I haven’t seen the course at all. I talked to one of the people associated with the race and they described it to me layout wise. The bike course is fairly flat, and the run is as well. It should be a pretty exciting course, especially for a first-time event.

Where are you with qualifying for the Beijing Olympics?
We had our first qualifier in Beijing, on the weekend after the LA race. I’ve had a little bit of a rough year with a back injury; it’s the first setback due to injury of my career. It didn’t limit me that much at the qualifier. I was the second American to finish, but only the first American automatically qualifies. They have another one in April in Hawaii, and one in June in Iowa. I definitely want to get it knocked out in Hawaii.

U.S. Open Triathlon

• When: 7:30 a.m. Sunday
• Where: Swim begins at Joe Pool Lake at Cedar Hill State Park. Race ends at Reunion Arena.
• Registration: Closed. U.S. Open Sports and Fitness Expo: 4-8 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Hilton Anatole, Trinity I Expo Hall
• Finish Fest Celebration: awards, live music, food, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Reunion Arena
• Online: usopentriathlon.com