We love underdogs

There are two kinds of athletes.

Those everyone expects to win. And those who leave people asking: Where did that come from?

At FUSION, we have always had a particular fondness for the latter. Not because we have anything against favourites, but because there is something special about working with athletes who have yet to receive the recognition their potential deserves. Athletes who may not have the biggest name, the strongest team or the longest list of results—but who possess the talent, work ethic and courage to challenge the established stars.

We call them underdogs.

Not because we believe in them any less. Quite the opposite. We are often fortunate enough to work closely with them at a stage in their careers when others have yet to see their full potential unfold.

Two world champions few had predicted

In 2025, our love of underdogs produced its most powerful expression yet. Casper Stornes lined up at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice in the shadow of some of the sport’s biggest stars. The Norwegian was certainly not unknown, but he had never previously won a full-distance IRONMAN. When experts and the media named their favourites, it was usually other Norwegian athletes who were mentioned first.

Casper Stornes was optimized by FUSION before his victory at the Ironman Worlds in 2025. 

But world championships are not won on reputation.

Stornes kept himself in contention through the swim and the bike. Then, when the marathon began, he delivered the decisive performance of the day. With a 2:29:25 marathon, he ran through the field and towards his first IRONMAN victory, a world championship title and a new course record of 7:51:39.

A few weeks later, it happened again.

Solveig Løvseth arrived in Hawaii as a first-time competitor at the full-distance World Championship. She had already demonstrated her calibre with victories at IRONMAN Lake Placid and IRONMAN 70.3 Venice-Jesolo, but in a field packed with former world champions and far more established long-distance athletes, she was still not the obvious name at the top of the favourites list.

That changed in Kona.

Løvseth remained composed throughout a dramatic and gruelling race, crossing the finish line as world champion in 8:28:27. Two Norwegian FUSION athletes had now won their respective IRONMAN World Championships on debut.

Two underdogs. Two world champions. Two athletes who had prepared intensively in the Tempo! Wind Tunnel.
 Also Solveig Løvseth visited FUSION for optimization prior to her victory at Kona. 

Recognising potential before the results 

It is easy to support an athlete when the medals are already hanging around their neck.

The difficult, and far more interesting, part is identifying their potential before the results reveal it. Understanding where an athlete can improve, then creating the right conditions for that potential to be realised. This is where FUSION’s love of underdogs becomes more than a romantic story.

For us, it is not about hoping for a surprise. It is about working systematically to make that surprise possible. We focus on the areas that can transform a performance: aerodynamics, position, clothing, comfort and the interaction between athlete and equipment. It takes time, repetition and an athlete willing to challenge their own habits.

An underdog can rarely afford to overlook the smallest details. That is why the uncompromising approach suits us so well.

New challengers in Nice

When the world’s best athletes gather in Nice for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship on 12 and 13 September, Casper Stornes and Solveig Løvseth will return as the reigning full-distance world champions.

This time, no one can claim they have come from nowhere. But the other FUSION athletes on the start line are ready to take on that role.

One of the most intriguing names is Lasse Nygaard-Priester. A year ago, the German finished 25th at the 70.3 World Championship. In 2026, he has taken a significant step forward, finishing on the podium in all five of his starts: victories at IRONMAN 70.3 Sweden and Zell am See-Kaprun, second places at IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia and T100 San Francisco, and third place in Pays d’Aix.

Those results have taken him to 11th in the world rankings. Even so, most observers would still place former world champions such as Jelle Geens, Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden and Rico Bogen ahead of him among the favourites.

He is exactly the kind of underdog we love. That does not mean we expect him to win. But knowing Priester’s potential as well as we do, we would not be surprised to see him deliver a top result.

Lasse has already proven that he can swim with the best and finish with half-marathon times in the 1:07–1:10 range. At the same time, our work on his aerodynamic position and overall setup has addressed one of the weaknesses that previously held him back over the middle distance. He may still be an underdog, but the gap to the favourites has narrowed considerably.

Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen and Valdemar Solok will also arrive in Nice without carrying the weight of the race’s biggest expectations on their shoulders. Both, however, have shown that they can compete near the front on the right day. Jens Emil has combined his background as one of the world’s best XTERRA athletes with an international breakthrough on the road, while Valdemar has spent several seasons working his way closer to the absolute elite.

Underdogs do not remain underdogs forever

That is the underdog’s paradox: if the work succeeds, the label eventually disappears.

Casper Stornes and Solveig Løvseth will not travel to Nice as unknown names. They arrive with world championship titles and the full attention of their competitors. That is the price of surprising the world.

But behind them, new athletes are ready. Athletes whose names are still mentioned after the favourites. Who still need to prove that their best results were not isolated performances. And who know that the difference between a good result and a historic one can be found in the details others overlook.

Those are the athletes we love working with.

Because favourites are expected to win.

Underdogs can change the entire story.