Appleton sixth to Frodeno
BYRON Bay triathlete Sam Appleton has finished sixth in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in South Africa.
Appleton finished the gruelling 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run in 3 hours 43 minutes and 58 seconds while winner Jan Frodeno (Germany) reclaimed the 70.3 world title he won in 2015 by finishing in 3:36.31. Frodeno beat Briton Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez, of Spain.
“I was a little bit angry because Alistair and I did all the work all day on the bike and tried to break away, tried to do anything and nobody came,” Frodeno said.
“I really wanted to hold the flag high in a foot race, which I knew was tough, but somehow I just had my running legs.”
Gold Coast Olympian Ryan Fisher finished 22nd. Fisher was within touching distance of the leaders in the swim and halfway through the bike but dropped back before struggling on the run in his first crack at the 70.3 word titles.
Fellow Gold Coaster Madi Roberts finished fifth in the female 18-24 age category, crossing in a time of 4:50.36.