Bozzone sixth, Currie 30th in Hawaiian race

Kiwi multisport athlete Terenzo Bozzone gained a top-10 finish in the Ironman world championships in Hawaii yesterday.

Bozzone claimed sixth spot in the professional men’s category, completing the gruelling swim/ cycle/run event in eight hours, 13 minutes and six seconds.

That put him just 11 minutes and 27 seconds behind winner Patrick Lange of Germany, with Canada’s Lionel Sanders 2m27s back in second and Great Britain’s David McNamee third in 8:07.11.

Fellow Kiwi Braden Currie finished 30th in the men’s pro event in 8:50.05 after an excellent swim before being slowed by a puncture on the bike leg.

Lange produced a sizzling marathon run, charging to victory in a course record time while Swiss Daniela Ryf claimed a third successive victory in the women’s event.

Lange finished the 180-km bike leg more than nine minutes behind Sanders and still trailed by more than six minutes halfway through the 42.2-km run.

But he turned on the afterburners to pass a shuffling Sanders less than five kilometres from home and looked amazingly fresh as he charged to victory. Lange was more than two minutes faster than the record set by Australia’s Craig Alexander in 2011.

‘‘Oh my god, I cannot believe it,’’ Lange said. ‘‘I always, always, always since I was a child dreamed to have this crown.’’

Sanders, who took up triathlon eight years ago in an effort to beat a drug problem, held on for second place, while McNamee finished third and Sebastian Kienle fourth.

Ryf took the lead late in the bike leg and was never threatened during the run as she romped to an emphatic victory over Briton Lucy Charles in second place, nearly nine minutes behind.

‘‘It was the hardest I’ve ever had to fight for a win,’’ Ryf said after finishing in 8:50:47.