Triathlon: Eight hours, fourteen minutes and forty seconds - with this impressive time last night in Kona at the Ironman Hawaii Jan Frodeno took the world championship crown. He inherits Sebastian Kienle, who only managed a disappointing eighth place. Andreas Raelert was a surprise second.
Hats off to all participants at the Ironman Hawaii in Kona - it was an enormously gripping competition over long stretches and we once again witnessed the almost unbelievable performances of these athletes. In the end, Jan Frodeno, one of the big favorites, cheered for victory - but it was a tough fight. Three minutes behind him, 39-year-old Andreas Raelert crossed the finish line as a surprise second after improving over the entire distance and rolling up the field from behind. Defending champion Sebastian Kienle didn't have a good day: After a strong performance in the water, he was missing the last percentage on the bike before his skins finally swam away while running. In the end it was only enough for an eighth place.
Already during the swim it was clear that "Frodo" had had a great day: Just two seconds behind the fastest, New Zealander Dylan McNeice, he got out of the water and took the lead in the transition zone. Things were also looking promising for title defender Sebastian Kienle: He arrived at the end of the first group, only lost a little more than a minute and a half to the front - and his parade discipline on the bike was still waiting. So everything according to plan?
After a while Frodeno found himself in a group with Tim O'Donnell and Sebastian Kienle on the bike. The trio dominated and everyone was waiting for Kienle to attack, probably including Frodeno. But surprise: The attack did not come, on the contrary. With increasing distance, Kienle had more and more problems to keep up with the pace of his companions and so Frodo succeeded on his new one Canyon Speedmax CF SLX even to break away. With a 30 second lead over O'Donnel and almost a minute over Kienle, the grand finale started. The strong runner Frodeno now 'just' had to run home calmly.
O'Donnel fought back bravely and was able to keep the German's advantage at the front at a constant two minutes for a long time, while Kienle lost more time with almost every step. Andreas Raelert even approached from behind, who after a good performance in the water was able to continue the race to catch up that he had started on the bike. The 39-year-old from Rostock collected participants after participants, even second-placed O'Donnel had to let him go. Frodo, however, didn't let anything burn at the top, even if his suffering was visible on his face at the end. But after 8:14:40 it was clear: He wins in Kona and is crowned the new world champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXg0Dzwhd8g
“Oh my god, thank you for the amazing support. What a race. I am infinitely grateful. It's a surreal feeling because you can't believe it until the last moment. History has already written some dramas," such a relaxed Jan Frodeno shortly after the finish line. Exhausted and with a hanging head, Kienle crossed the finish line, but shortly afterwards sent congratulations and a declaration of war on the new world champion: "Congratulations to Jan! But next year there will be a setback.” We are already looking forward to it.
[easy table th=“0″]1., Jan Frodeno, Germany, 08:14:40
2.,Andreas Raelert,Germany,00:03:03
3.,Timothy O'Donnel,USA,00:05:00
4.,Andy Potts,USA,00:06:37
5.,Tyler Butterfield,Bermuda,00:09:20
6.,Cyril Viennot,France,00:10:32
7th,Eneko Llanos,Spain,00:13:37
8.,Sebastian Kienle,Germany,00:15:15
9.,Brent McMahon,Canada,00:15:35
10., Boris Stein, Germany, 00:17:04
[/easy table]