A Canadian triathlete says he’s lucky to have walked away from a dramatic encounter…with a black bear. It happened during the White Mountains Triathlon in New Hampshire over the weekend. Racing is hard enough. But a fellow mammal showing up made Matteo Agostino’s race a smidge more complicated.
In a post on Instagram, the athlete recounted how what started as a good race took an well, unexpected turn.
“Yesterday I was racing the half iron distance at the White Mountains Triathlon. Everything was going great until it wasn’t,” he wrote.
Leading the swim and holding the front position at km 77 of the bike leg, he says a large black bear sprinted across the road in front of him.
“I led the swim with a pretty comfortable gap and was still in the lead at KM77 of the bike when a big ass black bear sprinted across the road and I full on smashed into him going at least 45 km/h in my aerobars,” his Instagram post reads. “Got ejected from my bike and took a pretty hard tumble. Luckily, the bear went in the woods.”
After being taken to hospital for scans and X-rays, he said the good news is that nothing was broken.
“My left shoulder/arm is pretty banged up and I have limited mobility, but it could have been a lot worse,” he added.
Agostino had some thoughts on the incident. He acknowledged how difficult it is to see months of preparation end this way. What weird turn of events.
“You can’t make this shit up. Sad is an understatement. When you invest so much effort, time and money in this passion, it just hurts getting everything taken away from you for a circumstance out of your control.”
Despite the setback, he says he’s determined to return to competition.
“I’ll be back stronger. Maybe not as strong as a bear, but I know I still got that dog in me.” (We think he means bear, but fair enough.)
The post Canadian triathlete collides with bear during White Mountains race appeared first on Triathlon Magazine Canada.