Q&A with....Tim Don

WHILE Alistair Browlee is currently king of the triathlon castle, it was not too long ago fellow Brit Tim Don was crowned world champion.

SEASONED CAMPAIGNER: Tim Don has been one of triathlon's top stars for some time, but he has no intention of relenting before London 2012 (Getty Images)

At 31, Don may seem an old hand when compared to the baby-faced Brownlee. However, three years ago he took world gold, and he also has world aquathlon and duathlon titles to his name.

Here he is sharing all with Sportsbeat's Tom Reynolds.

Q - We're obviously in between seasons at the moment, so first things first, how would you reflect on the most recent campaign?

A - It's been a hard year - I had a fair bit of injury early on; so I was always playing catch-up.

Previously I beat the Olympic champion and was winning World Cups, so when you've got guys who are still there or there abouts it's not easy to start behind them.

I finished the year ranked 16th having had not a good year by my standards.

Q - And was the highlight of it the London leg of the ITU World Championship Series?

A - I think the London leg of the World Championships series was probably the highlight of the year for me.

Without a doubt, I loved London, and to get a top-ten finish on the Olympic course was a good result to build and move on from.

It's important to associate a good race with the course. Now we roughly know what it is and we've seen how one race has gone.

I'm definitely in a good, solid place now to build towards London.

Now It's all about training smart, racing smart, trying to stay injury free and trying to still enjoy the sport. 

Q - You were clearly pleased with your ninth place in London but how impressed were you with Alistair Brownlee's performance in Hyde Park - and his season as a whole?

A - It was a really good day and with two or three km. to go, I was still in the fight for the podium. But I was just lacking that little finish because I'd missed training with a torn calf.

You see every day how good Al is - I trained with him in St. Moritz over the winter - and you see the type of training he does and it makes you want to raise the bar even more, rather than just seeing a Russian, a Kazakh or an Australian.

Triathlon is an up and coming sport and it's a growing sport so it's really good to see Al doing well and he's a really nice guy too.

Q - And with the likes of 2008 world champion Helen Jenkins and under-23 world champion Hollie Avil in the women's ranks, Britain are one of the world's triathlon superpowers aren't they?

The British will have a really strong team in London and anyone one of us could win it.

If I'm on the start line then sure I want to win - who doesn't? I would like to think if I made the British team - which is probably going to be one of the toughest teams to make - then I'll definitely be in with a shout of a medal.

The British team is the team to be in at the moment.

Q - And so do you have a plan mapped out between now and London 2012?

A - I had my last race recently in France and took a couple of weeks off.  I did some mountain biking and a few runs with friends but no structured training at all.

But it's back to winter training, sitting down with my coaches to pick on a few things that I can improve on next year.

You can't improve in the middle of the season because it's detrimental.  You have to work in the off-season; so I'll be doing that.

I've set myself a bit of a plan for the next three years. It depends on the calendar but this year was very much about learning.

We tried a few new things in the winter - some worked, others didn't but it's useful to tweak things about a bit.

I used altitude a lot this year.  We found a really good place in St. Moritz to base ourselves and I was out there with Al Brownlee and Hollie Avil for eight weeks so we'll be doing that again.

London's three years away but that's only two world titles. 

Q - And so if all goes to plan over the next few years, will it be a Brit standing on top of the podium in London and could it be you?

A - To hang the gold medal around my neck or Al's neck now is crazy - so much can happen in three years. Three years before Beijing the results leaned towards me, but not everything went to plan there.

There aren't really any team tactics in triathlon. For most races I compete in, six athletes can start from each team but in the Olympic Games it's only three.

Other countries have used team tactics when there's one guy - say Alistair Brownlee - and the next best guy is 50th or 60th in the world. At that point, it makes sense to work for the top guy.

But I believe excellence creates excellence and when you have the best in the world in your own back yard it makes you want it more.  Rather than coaxing each other, we should try and better each other and that will push us on.

If we get that right then it'll mean that if you're one of the top Brits then you're going to be one of the top guys in the world.