“I know a lot of people that didn’t handle retirement well,” Kienle says, explaining why he took a tapered approach to retirement. “It’s not always easy, and right now it still feels like a normal off-season. Putting the immense amount of stuff I’ve piled up over the years into the basement helps me realize this is actually real, but the biggest thing will be when I don’t have to start training again.”
Kienle turns 40 next year. With the milestone looming, he announced a “Discontinued” tour last November as a way to gradually call time on a stellar career that witnessed a victory at The Championship, four podiums in Hawaii (including a victory), a victory at Challenge Roth and two IM 70.3 world titles. The triathlon world moves fast, and it’s easy to overlook that such was his consistency at the top level that in eight consecutive years from 2013, he was never outside the top five in the world (according to the PTO rankings). Triathlete.com’s Tim Heming had a deep dive with Kienle and they’ve talked about almost everything that marks the career of this living legend. “If there were no Challenge and PTO it would be a catastrophe for non-drafting athletes. Ironman would not pay any prize money any more because they wouldn’t have to.”
You can read the full interview with Kienle here.
