On race day, the best laid plans are scattered into the wind as surprises abound in the white hot pursuit of Olympic medals. Afflicted with gastrointestinal woes, Spirig improvises a gutsy finish.
by Tim Carlson, September 13, 2012
In the greatest duel in Olympic triathlon, gold and silver was settled over 2 hours – and the difference was just 2 inches; but the journey for Nicola Spirig and her coach Brett Sutton started 6 years earlier.
Kendra Lee joined Drew Scott as amateurs who posted faster times than the pros at major Ironman events. Lee, a 32-year-old age grouper from Denver, was 1:09 faster than top pro Gillian Clayton at Ironman Canada.
Pacific Grove is one of the prettiest corners of the planet, and luckily for our sport they have hosted a triathlon weekend in September for 18 years. Always, the kelp crawl, elite and age group race s. Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson.
Andreas Raelert topped fellow German Timo Bracht by 4:02 and Gina Crawford of New Zealand edged Mary Beth Ellis of the United States by 1:04 to win the Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl half distance.
Joerie Vansteelant of Belgium won his third Powerman Zofingen title, one more than his late brother Benny: Eva Nyström of Sweden narrowly missed Karin Thürig’s 2002 course record at the ITU long course du Worlds
Like his fellow Olympic silver medalist Lisa Norden in the women’s race, Javier Gomez took control of the Hy-Vee Elite Cup men’s race with a run that brought him a 38 seconds margin over runner-up Hunter Kemper.
Lisa Norden follows Olympic silver with her second straight $151,500-plus Hy-Vee gold as the Swedish champion tops runner-up Sarah Haskins by 51 seconds in the richest race in the sport.
Toumy Degham of France topped Stanislav Krylov of Russia by 1:30 and Delphine Pelletier of France beat two-time defending champion Caroline Steffen of Switzerland by 3:26 to win Triathlon Gerardmer XL
Bree Wee made a big splash at the 2007 Ironman World Championship breaking Kate Major’s overall age group record and finished 13th overall in a time of 9:47:40. Five years later, the popular Kona mom made a dream come true at IM Louisville.
Patrick Evoe of Austin, Texas and Bree Wee of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii both scored their first Ironman wins – Wee by 1:47 over Jackie Arendt, Evoe by 8:15 over Chris McDonald – at Louisville.
Jesse Thomas topped Conrad Stoltz by 2:06 and closed in on Richie Cunningham for the Rev 3 series lead; Lauren Goss won by 2:41 over Becky Lavelle and passed Nicole Kelleher for the series lead at Rev3 Maine.
Hunter Kemper of the U.S. outran fellow Olympian Stuart Hayes of Great Britain to take the men’s crown and Sarah Haskins out biked 2012 U.S. Olympian Laura Bennett to win the women’s title at the Life Time Fitness – Toyota Challenge Chicago Triathlon.