Forget You 2020
Untold 2XU stories from the year of all years.
2020 has been a brutal year for sport. Whilst big monied leagues scrambled to operate a fixture in a COVID-safe way, many sports simply had their calendar gutted completely.
Finish lines disappeared.
Whilst media focussed some attention on the suffering of the more mainstream sporting disciplines, exponents of triathlon, track and field and personal training have been literally forgotten.
But we havenโt forgotten.
This is our snapshot of a year made memorable for all the wrong reasons. It is a story of triumph over adversity and a two-finger salute to everything that tried to stop us.
Itโs also a look to the future and new finish lines to be crossed.
In the midst of lockdown, we asked our 2XU family from across the world for their help.
What came back captured the fighting spirit of the 2XU athlete.
2020 is nearly done, but 2021?
Weโre coming for you.
COVID LOVINโ
Australian triathlete Aaron Royle and his fiancรฉ, British triathlete Non Stanford, escaped the UK winter to train in Fuerteventura. The pair then started the World Series in Abu Dhabi before COVID-19 put a stop to that.
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โAt the time, we didnโt realise the magnitude of what would follow. We naively prepared to race a World Cup in America, planned for just two weeks later. This was still early March before almost the entire world would come to a standstill. But within a few weeks, it seemed that the most logical thing to do was to fly back to Australia,โ said Royle.
โIf two weeks quarantine locked in a small hotel room with your fiancรฉ isnโt a test of your compatibility, then I donโt know what is!โ
โThankfully, we had the turbo trainer, our bikes and Zwift to keep us company and give us our own space. We arenโt super competitive with each other, but we both think we know whatโs best!โ
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LOCKED DOWN, BUT NOT OUT!
The โTwo Emmaโsโ, Emma Carney and Emma Hogan faced training in Melbourneโs tough lockdown restrictions.

When all public pools closed, the veteran and her prodigy simply built one themselves. The pop-up pool was bought with donations through Podium Project, an initiative to support future triathlete stars.
"The instructions said 30-minute construction. We nailed it in 20.โ
TIME TO GET CRAZY
Clint Kimmins wears many sporting caps: big-wave rider, triathlete, endurance athlete and professional Bondi lifeguard. Clint is thinking about the next international Ironman, endurance cycling events, criterium cycling races, a marathon and multiple-day adventure races. Before the pandemic hit, he entered into Dirty Kanza, a solo, self-supported, 200-mile-long bicycling endurance challenge on the gravel and dirt roads of east-central Kansas.

โWith COVID travel restrictionsโฆ I really hope my entry to Dirty Kanza still stands if the race goes ahead!โ
STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Los Angeles-based personal trainer, Kupah James has found that quarantine has strengthened the resolve of his clients. "People in my community have their own lives but theyโre jumping through hoops, hell or high water to come to my class. If they canโt make it, theyโre asking for a pre-recorded version, theyโll do it virtually at home. Theyโre finding ways to work out.โ

โEverything Iโve put into the fitness lane during quarantine has come back tenfold. It feels really good. Iโm super-excited I can still connect with people.โ โI floated the idea of doing a class on the beach in one of my Zoom classes. In my first week I had eight people, in my sixth week we had 30 people and now weโve had 35 - 40 people every single Saturday.โ
TRAINING FOR NOTHING?
5 x Triathlon World Champion, Terenzo Bozzone was on course to take a shot at the famous Hawaii Kona Ironman title this year after battling his way back from being hit by a car in 2018 and then missing 2019 with an Achilles injury. Having nearly peaked in fitness in early 2020, but with no international competition, the New Zealanderโs year has focussed on simply maintaining peak fitness. โKona is the unfinished business. I would love to win.โ