British triathlon star Chrissie Wellington confirmed her standing as one of finest endurance athletes in history by claiming her third successive Ford Ironman World Championship title last week.
The race took place on October 10 and saw Chrissie, who is based in Norfolk, set a new course record of 8 hours, 54 minutes and 2 seconds, breaking a 17-year-old record set by legendary triathlete Paula-Newby-Fraser. Wellington has now won the contest for three successive years, matching the achievements of Newby-Fraser and Natascha Badmann.
“I am so honoured and proud to now hold the course record. I was determined to race with all the fire and passion inside me and I am delighted to be able to take home the title once again,” said a delighted Wellington.
Chrissie collected a $110,000 prize after demolishing a world-class field in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Second place went to Australian Mirinda Carfrae who finished over 19 minutes behind Wellington with Virginia Berasategui of Spain in third position.
The victory preserved Chrissie’s remarkable unbeaten record in Ironman events although she has admitted that she is considering competing in the Olympic triathlon at London 2012.
“Olympic distance triathlon requires a completely different skill set,” she said.
“That’s not to say I won’t give 2012 a shot, either in triathlon or another sport, maybe bike racing. I’ve got three years, at the moment I want to concentrate on Ironman, but if we think that there’s a chance I could make it on to a British team of course that’s something I’d go for. The Olympics is the highlight of any professional athlete’s career but my Hawaii victory means so much to me.”
The men’s event saw Australian Craig Alexander hold off the challenges of American Chris Lieto and Andres Raelert of Germany to record his second successive title.
The Ironman is regarded as the world’s toughest and most prestigious one-day endurance contest and consists of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a full marathon. First staged in 1978, this year’s renewal saw over 1700 athletes take part, representing 48 countries and aged from 20 to 80!
In 1986 Timex developed the Timex Ironman sports watch to capture the spirit of courageous and passionate athletes across the globe. Now recognised as one of the world’s most popular timepieces, the Timex Ironman collection combines strong sport functionality and cutting edge technology with sleek, contemporary design.
The Timex Ironman Race Trainer combines USB connectivity with comprehensive performance measurement to maximise training sessions and help athletes achieve optimum performance whilst the Timex Ironman Triathlon TapScreen™ range features revolutionary touch screen technology, making recording and accessing essential performance information faster and simpler than ever.
The Timex Ironman collection is available from www.fitnessmonitors.com, www.josmarc.com and www.fitnessassist.co.uk.
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Tags: Ironman, Race Trainer, Timex