Experience the action from Wales’ toughest event
ONE of the world’s toughest sporting events yesterday saw hundreds of people from Wales, the UK and beyond taking part in Ironman Wales.
Set in and around Tenby, the competitors faced three gruelling challenges – a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon in Tenby town centre.
The first participant to cross the finishing line was French pro triathlete Arnaud Guilloux who completed the event in an impressive eight hours, 48 minutes and six seconds.
The women’s race was won by Britain’s Simone Mitchell with a time of nine hours, 41 minutes and 52 seconds.
The times of both winners represented course records.
But this year’s race was notable for the presence of former Wales rugby star Gareth Thomas, who hugged his husband as he finished the race, just a day after revealing he is HIV positive.
The 45-year-old was cheered and applauded as he completed the mammoth challenge in 12 hours 18 minutes and 29 seconds, placing 413th out of 2,039 participants.
Thomas embraced husband Stephen at the finish line after vowing to “break the stigma” around the illness after blackmailers put him “through hell” threatening to expose his secret.
The sportsman completed the 2.4 mile swim in Carmarthen Bay in just under an hour-and-a-half, then a sixand-a-half hour, 112-mile cycle race across south Pembrokeshire, before an exhausting finish with a 26.2 mile marathon in four hours and 17 minutes.
Here is a selection of pictures from the event.