Triathlete Taylor Knibb is more than just a poop meme.

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These are strange times for Olympians.

An athlete can win medal after medal, but if he is caught on camera in a compromising or hilarious situation, the ensuing tonnage of Internet memes will eclipse those accolades. Want proof? I suggest you Google French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati or Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç.

I fear that American Olympic triathlete Taylor Knibb will suffer the same fate. I’m here to plead with you, Internet users, to stop this from happening.

Knibb, 26, dominated the T100 Triathlon World Championships in Dubai over the weekend, winning the race by more than two minutes. But during the race, Knibb pooped in her racing suit. Hey, it’s triathlon: stomach upsets and random crap mid-race are as common as untied sneakers. Knibb had the presence of mind to share her predicament with the cameraman who was pursuing her: she asked him to spare viewers the unflattering rear view. “I just shit myself,” she told the camera. “So you can’t have my ass?” The operator complied.

Unfortunately, this short video has become part of the Internet’s cycle of cruel memes. I first saw it on Instagram on Sunday night, and by Wednesday, stories about Knibb were flooding the Internet. Even Daily Mail picked it up – the surest sign that the story has become part of the low-grade filth of the Internet.

I can see why: pooping in your pants is almost always a little funny, and during world-class sporting events it just adds to the appeal. Additionally, Knibb’s calm and matter-of-fact demeanor in the midst of a potential crisis won hearts. It’s a little like that meme of the dog in the burning room declaring, “Everything’s fine,” if that dog is also a master at managing its own PR in real time.

But as we all know, viral memes have the power to distort reality and obscure the facts. And the truth about Taylor Knibb is that she is probably the most impressive American endurance athlete of her generation. Period. And I’ll say it until I’m hoarse: Taylor Knibb is too impressive an athlete for a stupid meme to define her internet reputation.

Knibb has competed in triathlons of various distances and won Olympic silver in Tokyo in 2020. Not to be outdone, Knibb qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team in both triathlon and road cycling. To a stranger, this may seem rather trivial. After all, cycling is one of the three stages of a triathlon. Isn’t this similar to how Michael Phelps wins medals in breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly?

No, this is completely different. It’s more like if Phelps won the 100-meter freestyle and then donned a sequined robe and competed in the Olympic synchronized swimming competition. and completely kicked his ass. No American had ever competed in triathlon and cycling at the same Olympic Games before. This is a big deal. In fact, Knibb was the only American to compete in two different sports at the Paris Games. She also competed on the Olympic triathlon team and helped Team USA earn a silver medal.

In the small community of endurance sports superfans (yes, I’m a member), Knibb’s two-time Olympic qualification was stunning.

“Being world class in triathlon and cycling at the same time is incredibly difficult,” says long-time coach Neil Henderson, who trains elite-level cyclists and triathletes. “It’s hard to put into words how impossible this is.”

Henderson told Outside that training has to be so good in two different sports is mind-boggling. Elite cyclists and triathletes train 25–28 hours per week. But cyclists devote all this time to a very specific physiological act – pedaling a bicycle. Triathletes, meanwhile, split those hours between swimming, cycling and running.

And anyone who’s ever done a triathlon knows that running and cycling are not complementary exercises. I’m simplifying this, but pedaling a bicycle requires your leg muscles to produce a high level of power. This is why the best cyclists often have muscular quads, glutes and hamstrings.

Meanwhile, running damages the large, muscular muscles in your legs and robs those muscles of the strength needed to push the bike pedals. If you look closely at the world’s best distance runners and triathletes, you’ll see flexible, thin legs.

“The physiological demands of running negatively impact your ability to maintain the muscle mass, strength and power that make you a good cyclist,” Henderson said. “And in elite sport you’re talking about stark differences that arise because of the enormous demands on the body.”

Henderson, who runs Apex Coaching in Colorado, coached Knibb when she was an 18-year-old aspiring professional triathlete. She graduated from Cornell University as an Academic All-American and a top-level cross-country runner, with her sights set on professional triathlon. According to Henderson, Knibb was a rare teenage athlete with world-class natural talent, monastic dedication to training and sky-high personal ambitions.

But even he had his doubts when Knibb told him she hoped to qualify for the Olympics in two different sports in 2024. Her triathlon schedule left very little time to train specifically for cycling. And among the handful of Americans vying for a spot in Paris were talented athletes who had focused on the sport for years.

“It didn’t seem wise for Taylor to go to the Olympics on both occasions,” Henderson said. “But if you place reasonable expectations on athletes with unreasonable ability, you will never know what they are capable of.”

Knibb earned a spot on the 2023 U.S. Olympic triathlon team, and in 2024 a rare opportunity opened up for her in cycling. USA Cycling, the sport’s governing body, held an Olympic qualifying race on May 15 in the winner-take-all individual time trial. The race fell right in the middle of Knibb’s international triathlon schedule, just days after a major race. in Japan.

After finishing second at the Japanese triathlon, Knibb traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, for a road cycling race. She took on the best professional cyclists in the country in a 22-mile individual race. Participants included former world champion Amber Neben, former US road racing champion Lauren Stevens and even Kristen Faulkner, who went on to win two cycling gold medals in Paris. Everyone wanted to win because winning meant an automatic spot on the US Olympic cycling team.

Knibb smoked them all – she beat Faulkner by 11 seconds to take the place.

When I read the news, I almost fell out of my chair. When Henderson learned of Knibb’s victory, he smiled. After all, he knew she was capable of it.

So if you need to laugh a little at the video, take a moment to get to know Knibb for who she really is: an exceptional athlete with huge ambitions, crazy strength and, yes, the ability to stay calm and collected. no matter the situation.