Olympic Champ Blummenfelt, Sara Svensk Win IM Cozumel
Kristian Blummenfelt continued his 2021 hot streak – Olympic champion, World Triathlon Olympic Distance Champion – with a 15-minute margin of victory at his Ironman debut in Cozumel.
Blummenfelt combined a 2nd-best 39:39 swim split at a slightly shortened distance, a dominant 4:02:40 bike split, and a smashing-best 2:35:24 marathon to finish in 7:21:12 with a 15:23 margin over Patrik Nilsson of Sweden and 20:20 over 3rd place finisher Paul Schuster of Germany. It will be hard to say which of the two Norwegians had the better Ironman debut – two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Gustav Iden’s course record 7:42:57 on a full distance at Ironman Florida or Blummenfelt’s 7:21:12 on a short swim and bike at Cozumel.
Sara Svensk of Sweden overcame a 3:48 deficit after the swim with a women’s 2nd-fastest 4:33:10 bike split and 2nd-best 2:58:02 marathon to finish in 8:22:41 with an 8:30 margin over Gurutz Frades of Spain and 13:59 over Carrie Lester of Australia.
The win added to Svensk’s current string of excellent performances – a win at the 2019 Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten, 8th at 2020 Challenge Daytona, and 3rd at 2021 Ironman 70.3 Dubai.
Men’s race
Paul Schuster of Germany broke into the lead with a 39:37 swim split that gave him a 2 seconds margin on Blummenfelt, 3 seconds on Tim Rea of Australia, 6 seconds on Robert Wilkowiecki of Poland, 7 seconds on Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium, 8 seconds on Nilsson of Sweden, 9 seconds on Giulio Molinari of Italy and Pamphiel Pareyn of Belgium, and 15 seconds on 13th-quickest Ruedi Wild of Switzerland.
Blummenfelt then erased all doubt with a by-far race-best 4:02:40 bike split that gave his an 8:19 lead on Nilsson and 8:26 on Ruedi Wild. Blummenfelt finished off crushing the field with a race-best 2:35:24 marathon to finish in 7:21:12 with a 15:23 margin on Wild (2:41:50 marathon) and 20:20 over Schuster.
Women’s race
Carrie Lester of Australia led the women's swim with a 43:12 split that gave her a 2 seconds lead on Britt Vocke of the U.S., 4 seconds on Margie Santamaria of the U.S., 32 seconds on Michelle Vesterby of Denmark, 38 seconds on Romina of Argentina, 57 seconds on Dede Griesbauer of the U.S., and 3:48 on Svensk.
Winning one for the speedy elders, Griesbauer clocked a women’s-best 4:30:22 bike split which gave her 2:22 lead on Lester, 5:05 on Svensk, 6:37 on Vesterby 12:16 on Jen Annett of Canada, 13:05 on Angela Naeth, and 15:28 on soon to be threatening Gurutz Frades of Spain.
Frades did her best to chop away on the leaders with a race-best 2:56:03 marathon, but fell short of Svensk who protected her lead with a 2:58:02 marathon. On the wings of a 3:15:34 run, Lester came third, 13:59 behind the winner.
Ironman Cozumel
Cozumel, Mexico
November 21, 2021
S 2.1 mi. / B 110 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Men
1. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) S 39:41 T1 1:52 B 4:02:40 T2 1:37 R 2:35:24 TOT 7:21:12
2. Ruedi Wild (SUI) S 39:59 T1 1:53 B 4:10:47 T2 2:09 R 2:41:50 TOT 7:36:35
3. Paul Schuster (GER) S 39:39 T1 1:50 B 4:12:03 T2 1:44 R 2:46:18 TOT 7:41:32
4. Robert Wilkowiecki (POL) S 39:45 T1 1:45 B 4:11:58 T2 1:41 R 2:46:54 TOT 7:42:02
5. Andre Lopes (BRA) S 39:50 T1 1:42 B 4:11:52 T2 1:43 R 2:48:26 TOT 7:43:31
6. Fellipe Santos (BRA) S 39:54 T1 1:56 B 4:10:49 T2 2:05 R 2:50:59 TOT 7:45:42
7. Victor Arroyo Bugallo (ESP) S 45:17 T1 1:56 B 4:17:00 T2 2:26 R 2:46:05 TOT 7:52:42
8. Pamphiel Pareyn (BEL) S 39:48 T1 1:50 B 4:11:53 T2 2:09 R 2:57:59 TOT 7:53:38
9. Adam Feigh (USA) S 43:30 T1 2:18 B 4:18:32 T2 1:52 R 2:52:41 TOT 7:58:52
10. Tim Rea (AUS) S 39:42 T1 1:52 B 4:11:50 T2 2:11 R 3:04:05 TOT 7:59:39
Women
1. Sara Svensk (SWE) S 47:01 T1 2:01 B 4:33:10 T2 2:30 R 2:58:02 TOT 8:22:41
2. Gurutz Frades (ESP) S 49:04 T1 2:30 B 4:41:00 T2 2:36 R 2:56:03 TOT 8:31:12
3. Carrie Lester (AUS) S 43:12 T1 2:15 B 4:34:01 T2 1:40 R 3:15:34 TOT 8:36:40
4. Joanna Ryter (SUI) S 50:13 T1 2:05 B 4:47:34 T2 1:53 R 3:01:17 TOT 8:42:59
5. Adriana Cruz (MEX) S 43:54 T1 2:20 B 4:53:57 T2 2:15 R 3:10:35 TOT 8:52:58
6. Jen Annett (CAN) S 50:10 T1 2:19 B 4:36:53 T2 1:30 R 3:23:41 TOT 8:54:31
7. Romina Palacio (ARG) S 43:50 T1 2:40 B 4:54:07 T2 2:16 R 3:14:28 TOT 8:57:20
8. Palmira Alvarez (ARG) S 53:47 T1 2:24 B 4:41:09 T2 2:17 R 3:20:00 TOT 8:59:35
9. Angela Naeth (CAN) S 49:00 T1 2:24 B 4:38:47 T2 2:06 R 3:32:19 TOT 9:04:33
10. Dede Griesbauer (USA) S 44:10 T1 2:33 B 4:30:22 T2 2:34 R 3:46:04 TOT 9:05:42
