Europeans Win

(*a version of this is in Monday's Australian Financial Review)



Faris al-Sultan from Germany and Switzerland’s Natascha Badmann took the men and women’s titles at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For al-Sultan it was his first win, while it marked Badmann’s sixth victory in triathlon’s most prestigious event.

Al-Sultan completed the 3.8 kilometre swim, 180.2 kilometre bike ride and 42.2 kilometre run in 8:14:17 – about 10 minutes slower than the course record. Badmann won in a time of 9:09:30.

Australian women, led by Olympic silver medalist Michellie Jones, took four of the top 10 places. Chris McCormack led the Australian men, finishing in sixth.

Jones, 36, finished second in her debut at this race. Other top Australian women finishers included: Kate Major, 27, in third; Belinda Granger, 34, in seventh; and, Melissa Ashton, 32, in 10th. Rebecca Preston was 11th and Sarah Fien was 19th.

Among the Australian men, McCormack was followed by Luke Bell in 13th, Mitch Anderson in 14th, Craig McKenzie in 28th and Jason Shortis in 35th.

Al-Sultan, who trains part of the year in the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the heat of racing through Kona’s lava fields, became the second German to win the race in as many years. Last year’s winner, Normann Stadler, dropped out of this year’s race during the bike ride.

Both al-Sultan, 27, and Badmann, 38, will receive $US110,000 for their wins. A total of $US580,000 is awarded to the top 10 men and female professionals.

``I cannot believe I did it,’’ al-Sultan said. New Zealand’s Cameron Brown was second in 8:19:36 and Peter Reid of Canada was third in 8:20:04.

McCormack, who was the 1997 triathlon short-course world champion, finished in 8:23:52. It was the 32-year-old’s best finish in four attempts. He has won the Australian Ironman in Forster, New South Wales, in each of the past four years.

``I got the monkey off my back,” McCormack said, referring to having not finished in two of his three previous attempts in Hawaii. He vowed to return, saying he still wants to win the event. As for his race today: “I had a terrible swim, rode solo most of the day and I just closed my eyes and ran.’’

Jones went into the race in Hawaii as a rookie, even though she is one of the world’s most experienced and accomplished triathletes. Jones won the triathlon short-course world championship in both 1992 and 1993 and won a silver medal in triathlon at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

San Diego-based Jones qualified for Hawaii by winning the first Ironman race she contested in Florida in November 2004. Jones, who had the fastest women’s bike split at 4:54:13, had a final time of 9:11:51.

Major finished in 9:12:39, Granger in 9:28:16 and Ashton in 9:32:20.


*****

Denmark’s Torbjorn Sindballe set a new bike course record of 4:21:37. Karin Thuerig has the fastest bike split for women at 4:50:16.

One the most unique aspects of the race is that professional and amateur athletes compete on the same course at the same time. In all, about 1800 athletes competed, and were given as long as 17 hours to get to the finish.

Australian athletes were also among the top amateur finishers, including Ryland Garnett of Seaford, Damien Angus of Melbourne, Carmine Soriano of Melbourne, Sydney’s John Mergler and Perth’s Kate Belivaqua