Is Ironman King Ali Day the most underrated athlete of his generation?

Coming from Ali Day, it's an absurd question. The Kiama-raised Ironman whiz is a lot of things, but cocky isn't one of them. Perhaps the only thing tougher than beating him in his beloved Coolangatta Gold, is getting him to discuss his legacy in sport.

For one, he's not done yet. Secondly, it's just not his go, even though he takes the start-line at Surfers Paradise each year at shorter odds than Winx in a Cox Plate. After all, the mighty mare only one four of them.

Day's won nine 'Coolie' crowns and counting, a perfect 9-0 since claiming his first win in 2012. It's taken him more than four hours just twice, with his 2018 time of 4:01:00 a record 21 minutes faster than his nearest rival. His seven other wins are the only sub-four hour times ever clocked.

It's a run of dominance that might otherwise threaten the viability of an event. In Day's case, it's quite the opposite. With the sport having drifted in and out of the country's sporting consciousness since the halcyon days of the Uncle Tobys Super Series, Day now carries the weight of it on his shoulders.

At 33 years old, he continues to do so atop the current Iron Series leaderboard in pursuit of a fifth series title. For many who flick the channel over to SBS for a look at rounds three and four this weekend, his will be the only name on the screen that they readily recognise.

It's not lost on the Warilla-Barrack Point SLSC product who, for the last several years, has stated his greatest motivation is to give the next generation someone to chase.

To the uninitiated, it may sound like an empty platitude. Those in the know will tell you it's anything but. Through shifting commercial sands, the eventual the passing of the torch is the sport's very heartbeat.

Day took it from Shannon Eckstein, whose own emergence pitched him into a battle with fellow Queenslander Zane Holmes, the pair claiming 13 of the 15 series before Day claimed his first in 2015.

Professional sport of any kind relies on marquee names. Should the names fall off the map, the sport could soon follow as a commodity.

At its current juncture, Day remains the name at all levels of the sport, even if it sits with him somewhat uneasily.

"You don't intentionally set out in your career to be the one that sets the bar and the one they want to chase, but I feel like it's probably just come on me in the last three or four years since Shannon has retired and I've sort of become his successor," Day says.

"I'd never compare myself to Shannon. He's the best I ever saw and the best I ever raced. It's nice to be mentioned in the same sentence, but it is the passing of the baton in a way.

"I'm the oldest there now, obviously. A lot of [general] public viewers wouldn't know the younger guys. I was lucky to be in that generation for the last part of when Ky (Hurst), Shannon and Zane all raced and people remember me from then.

"I hope I've been able to drive the standards of it. I know I have for the Coolangatta Gold and I feel like I'm doing that a little bit for the Iron Series as well.

"There's obviously so many factors driving me, but I really hope I've been able to inspire the next generation and really carry the sport forward."

More than that, he may be doing it by quietly compiling a GOAT case in the sport. In fact, he may well be the most criminally underrated athlete of his generation in any sport.

Currently chasing Iron Series title number five, he's unlikely to nudge his hero Eckstein's nine crowns by the time he's done. Thirroul's legend Darren Mercer's seven may be within reach, while he can equal Holmes' five this year.

As far as Coolie-Series doubles, though, no one can hold a candle to the proud South Coast son. Mercer and Holmes each have one Coolangatta crown to their name, while Eckstein - whose brother Caine was the original Coolie king with five victories - never won the Gold.

Few, if any, have looked as invincible as Day did in 2021 when he became the first competitor to claim the Gold, Australian ironman title and Iron Series in the one year; he did the latter claiming every round.

He's had to overcome his fair share of adversity along the way. A chronic fatigue illness following the 2013 Gold wiped out his entire 2024, while a freak accident on a promo shoot that snapped both his wrists kept him out of the 2019 race and Series.

Illness also brought a premature end to his campaign last season. What he could have done in any of those lost seasons is anyone's guess, but there's no question he's one of the best to ever do it - even if it takes some arm twisting for him to admit.

"Trev (Hendy) really changed the sport, then Ky (Hurst) came in and changed it, Zane changed it, the Mercers changed it and then more recently Shannon changed it," Day said.

"It sounds a bit cocky, but I like to think I've gone and changed it in a way and the way I've done it is a bit different. Those guys were really professional but they were a lot more physically gifted and talented than me with their skills and athleticism.

"I've been a late bloomer in the sport and I've really had to do the extra one per centers like diet, the mobility, the sports psychologist and recovery. I do feel like I've raised the standards in that area."

When it comes to the Gold in particular, it's personal.

"I feel like there's a responsibility there for the next Ali Day in the sport that wants to do that race," he said.

"I got told when I was young that you get limited opportunities to race and I know that better than most because I've had to sit out my fair share as well. Every opportunity I've had to do that race, I've always put my hand up for it.

"The responsibility lies there to inspire the next generation to want to do the race because, ultimately, in 10-15 years time I want to sit back and watch the race. Whether it's live or on TV, I want to see it and know I was a little bit responsible for keeping the tradition going."

Other forebears left their own trailblazing mark on the series. The sport may never see a talent as prodigious as Hurst who burst on the scene as a 16-year-old in the late 90s.

It was a decade in which Trevor Hendy became the first mainstream face of surf ironman racing through the 'cereal wars', an oft-neglected, but no less interesting chapter of Australian sport.

Something akin to World Series Cricket or rugby league's Super League war, the breakaway Uncle Tobys Series lured the sport's top competitors across from the SLSA-sanctioned Kellogg's series with the promise of full-time professionalism.

It came to offer in the vicinity of $900,000 prize money and feature on prime-time free-to-air television. Its profile was enough that the entire elite field even featured on Baywatch at the height of the iconic television show's popularity - Hendy edging past David Hasselhoff's character in a fictional sprint finish.

Were the sport still in rude health of those halcyon days, there's no question Day would be a household name. It's a thought that's admittedly crossed his mind, but he insists it's never been what's driven him.

"Certainly there's a bit of would'a, should'a, could'a and I wish I was in the generation where it was more publicised and you were more well known," Day said.

"I definitely wish we got paid more because I know how hard everyone works and how exciting the sport is. People would probably be shocked to know there's been moments that I've struggled financially, even last year because I didn't race.

"If you don't race, you don't win prize money, sponsors don't come on board, they don't renew. There's been moments where I've gone, 'shit, is this really worth it?' but it is, it always is.

"I didn't come into the sport to make money, I came in for the love of it and I came in because of the history and now wanting to win titles. I can retire tomorrow and know that it's been a hell of a career and money, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter."

What does matter is that baton, and for Day's part, he feels the sport is in as healthy a position as it's been for a number of years.

"We did a Summer of Surf race a few weeks ago and I got second to a 17-year-old," Day said.

"Someone asked me 'are you disappointed' and I said 'not at all'. Of course I wanted to win, but it just means the next generation has arrived, they're hungry they want to be in the Iron series, they want to do Coolangatta Golds. That's pretty cool for me.

"It's hard to compete against other sports, like footy. I get it because I love footy, but due to a number of factors the sport's in a really healthy spot at the moment.

"Shaw and Partners have come on and sponsored the Coolangatta Gold the last the last few years and that's made that weekend better for me. I've turned up before and it's felt like there's been three people on the start-line, now there's hundreds of people turning up.

"You can win cars now in the Summer of Surf, there's 10 grand a race so there's thousands of dollars on offer. It's not $800,000 contracts that are guaranteed, but if you're doing the work, nine times out of 10 you're gonna get that payday.

"The participation levels are really high and I feel the depth of talent now to qualify into the Ironman Series is really hard. I feel like it is in a pretty good place."

He may be desperate to pass that storied baton, it's not something he's willing to merely hand over.

He'll take the start-line at Maroubra for rounds three and four of this year's series this weekend as clubhouse leader. He's still the one the rest are chasing, and he's as determined as ever to keep it that way.

"I don't know if it's my age showing, but it's definitely not easy to go and win a race anymore," he said.

"I think that's what's driving me to win a fifth IronMan series - can I still do it? can I match these guys? That's what I've been telling myself. I'm 33, 34 in a few months, and it's driving me to still be the best that I can at 34.

"A lot of guys have been, Shannon was, Ky was, Zane was, so that's what's driving me as well. I'm been lucky I've been in this position before, so I know what to takes, but I also know I've lost them too.

"You've got to go out there and pretend like it's round one again."