Simon Whitfield reminds people this ain’t his first Olympic triathlon

Daring to have Daddy-Daughters Days means Simon Whitfield is facing some doubters back home. On Thursday, the 37-year-old who is competing in his fourth and likely final Olympic men's triathlon took to Twitter to let people who may think an endurance-sport athlete has to lead a strict, monastic existence to have a shot at performing well know, in not so few words, hey, I got this.

I doubt that it's going to appear in CTV's Bell Social Scene any time soon. It can be foolhardy to read anything into a Tweet. There is lot of bad that can come from writing a story based on a maximum 140-character missive although Twitter is a great tool for the 24/7 newscycle. It comes off like some good-intentioned, well-meaning fans are wondering if Whitfield is off by soaking up as much of London as possible with his spouse and their two young daughters, aged five and two. One can see where people would get the idea this is a bit of a victory lap.

However, the Athens reference might shed some light on the Kingston-born Whitfield's perspective. His out-of-nowhere win in the inaugural Olympic men's triathlon in 2000 made him a household name in Canada. It was a pleasant surprise. The dynamic in 2004 was different. He was expected to deliver a medal and had a huge spotlight on him. The rub is that it's triathlon and on any given day, there probably isn't much separation between the top 15 to 20 athletes since there are so many things that can affect an athlete in a swimming/biking/running race. One can imagine Whitfield hearing everyone's advice, not filtering whose was useful, and also over-focusing on the triathlon, which of course is a one-day event.

When athletes, or anyone else, zone in on a particular goal and don't reach it, the regret afterward can often be doubled. In the context of the Olympics, it can feel empty because he/she did not get the medal and ended up missing out savouring the whole experience. It is understandable why Whitfield is trying to soak it all in, understand why the Olympics mean so much and show his kids a good time. You often hear final-time Olympians, even Michael Phelps, say they're going to enjoy their final Games in a way they could not in their earlier years.

After four years of competing and training, taking some time for family probably will not affect Whitfield too much. It's one big race on one day.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.