Columbus North graduate Chase McQueen exits the water after the swim portion of a triathlon in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Submitted photo
As Chase McQueen continues his rise in the world of Triathlon, his focus is becoming a little more clear.
The goal for the 2016 Columbus North graduate is to make the 2024 Olympic team, and over the past few months, that goal is becoming increasingly realistic.
Last year, McQueen was the fifth or sixth American, and only two were able to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo. He currently is ranked as the No. 3 American and No. 47 in the world.
Countries get two spots in the Olympics for triathlon and can have a third qualifier if they are ranked in the top 30 in the world.
“I’m more optimistic about the position I’m in now and my progression toward the Paris Olympics,” McQueen said. “I definitely have started over the last couple of years to put together some really good results, and I’m seeing some good potential in making the Olympic team for Paris.”
McQueen had his best-ever World Triathlon Cup finish on Sunday in Spain. He took 12th overall and was the top American in the 2022 World Triathlon Cup Pontevedra.
After coming out of the 1,500-meter swim in fourth place, McQueen was ninth following the 39.5K bike. He then ran a 30-minute, 49-second 10K, his personal-best for a triathlon, to finish in 1:48:10.
“I would say that was definitely one of the best races I’ve had,” McQueen said. “I was really proud that I put together a good performance across all three sports. It was nice to see a solid, consistent result.”
Columbus North graduate Chase McQueen exits the water after the swim portion of a triathlon in Los Angeles.
Submitted photo
A swimmer and cross-country and track runner at North, McQueen started competing in triathlons as a sophomore in high school. He continued to compete in triathlons while running cross-country and track for two years at University of Arizona for two years before transferring Arizona State to compete for its triathlon team.
“The passion started in high school, but I really started focusing on it in college,” McQueen said. “It’s been a long journey from high school and even before that. It’s nice to see all this work coming to fruition. It is pretty crazy thinking about how many people have played a role in my development all the way back to high school. It’s really great to see all of the hard work and also that influence paying off.”
After graduating from Arizona State in 2020 with a degree in finance, McQueen began working for Robin Hood, a financial services company. He continued working for Robin Hood after moving to Los Angeles in February, but left that job two weeks ago to train for triathlon full time.
“It was kind of nice because it was during COVID, so I worked from home and I could train,” McQueen said. “I’ve been balancing a lot of professional stuff and training stuff with work. But it got to be a lot of stress, and my balance wasn’t good. I could see I couldn’t achieve what I wanted to in the sport without being fully committed.”
This spring and summer, McQueen has competed in triathlons in Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany.
“One of the hardest things about the spot that I’m in right now is having to manage being in all the different countries and the travel and time zones and the stress with all that and still being ready mentally and physically to compete at a high level,” McQueen said.
Columbus North graduate Chase McQueen makes his way through the running portion of a triathlon in Los Angeles.
Submitted photo
McQueen drove from L.A. to Boulder, Colorado, this week to begin a five-week training camp with USA Triathlon. He then will compete in London and Munich in September; Malibu, California, and France in October and Bermuda and Abu Dhabi in November.
The fall events are a mix of World Cup and World Series competitions and are part of the United States’ Olympic qualification period.
“There’s still a lot of opportunities the rest of the year,” McQueen said. “There’s a lot of big races coming up, so I’m looking to consistently trying to improve my results. These races are opportunities to put my best foot forward for a spot at those Olympics. Every event is critical, and I need to be performing well. I just need to keep working my way up over the next couple of years.”
