The great Jan Frodeno is looking to join illustrious company as he prepares for the defence of his Ironman World Championship title on Saturday and 'all' that stands between the two-time defending champion and a third world title is a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, a marathon and a world-class field in Hawaii on Saturday.
Only Dave Scott (1982-84) and Mark Allen (1989-1993) have won three or more IM World Championships in a row since the event was first introduced in 1978 and Frodeno is on the verge of joining the legendary Americans by making it a hat-trick this weekend.
Frodeno, who is affectionately nicknamed 'Frodo' after the character from The Lords Of The Rings novels by J. R. R. Tolkien, faces his own epic journey of discovery after winning the world titles in Kona in 2015 and 2016. The 6ft 4in German bears little resemblance to the diminutive hero from Tolkien's books and there won't be a wise silver-bearded wizard to help him along the way, while the sunny climes and the course of Kailua-Kona are likely to be extremely demanding but in a different way to the trek through fictitious Mordor.
However, as with the story of Frodo Baggins, Frodeno knows that hero status awaits if he is successful in his quest.
Frodeno has raised the bar when it comes to triathlon as he was a surprise winner of the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and he has gone from strength-to-strength since moving to Ironman distances in 2013, winning bronze at the Ironman World Championships in 2014 before taking successive gold medals - the German is the first athlete to ever win Olympic triathlon gold and an Ironman world title.
The 36-year-old now has his sights set firmly on making it three in a row and there is even the possibility that he could become the first athlete to go sub-eight hours at Kona.
Who Are The Challengers To Frodeno's Crown?
For many, Lionel Sanders is the man to watch this weekend as the 2017 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship winner is a pin-up story of what human-beings are capable of, putting his past of drug and alcohol addiction behind him to become a genuine force in the IM sphere. The Canadian had initially said that he wouldn't compete at Kona this year after finishing 7th in 2015 and 29th in 2016 but he had a change of heart in June and the 29-year-old is seen as a genuine rising force, particularly with his swim leg coming on leaps and bounds.
German Dominance
Sanders will do well to break the German dominance at Kona though as Frodeno and his fellow countrymen have been imperious. In the past five years, the Germans have won nine (three gold, three silver and three bronze) of the fifteen medals on offer and Sebastian Kienle is seen as the most likely to challenge 'Frodo'.
Kienle won Kona in 2014, finished 8th in 2015 and took silver last year, and it should be fascinating to see if his phenomenal pace on the run can challenge the pre-race favourite.
Meanwhile, Patrick Lange ran the marathon leg in 2 hours 39 minutes to finish on the podium twelve months ago and in doing so he broke Mark Allen's long-standing run course record from 1989. However, a foot injury has plagued his 2017 campaign and it will be interesting to see if he can still be a major player on the bike.
Andi Bocherer, who has been on the podium at the European IM Championships in Frankfurt for each of the past three years, finished 5th at Kona in 2016 and the bike leg will make or break his race.
British Hopes
Unfortunately, it was a bike incident that ended the race before it even began for Great Britain's Tim Don as he was ruled out with injuries suffered in a crash with a car while out riding in mid-week. Don, the son of former Premier League referee Philip, set a new IM world record of 7:40:23 at the South American Championship in Brazil in May and was expected to be a major player in Hawaii but unfortunately he will have to sit this one out.
Instead, British hopes rest with 2015 IM UK winner, David McNamee, who has been Great Britain's highest finisher during each of the previous two years in Kona - 11th in 2015 and 13th in 2016.
McNamee has the qualities to be a podium contender this weekend but it remains to be seen if anyone can stop Frodeno on his epic journey towards greatness.
