German smashes record
German star Patrick Lange has made Hawaiian Ironman history by becoming the first triathlete to break the eighthour barrier at the world championship.
Swiss Daniela Ryf has recovered from a slow swim, after a jellyfish sting before the start, to win the women’s race for the fourth-straight year and smash her own course record by 20 minutes.
Lange not only successfully defended his title but smashed his own race record in the process.
He won the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run event in 7:52:39 — crushing the 8:01:40 course record he set a year ago.
Lange was in high spirits at the finish and proposed to his girlfriend, Julia Hofmann, who accepted, only a couple of minutes after crossing the line.
Ryf won in 8:26:16, easily eclipsing her 8:46:46 from two years ago.
Britain’s Lucy Charles finished runner-up for the second year in a row, this time in 8:36:32.
The Hawaiian Ironman is notorious for its brutal winds and tropical heat but Belgian Bart Aernouts also finished in under eight hours for second place with 7:56:41 with Briton David McNamee eclipsing last year’s winning time to finish third.
Josh Amberger, of Australia, led the race after the swim for the second year in a row and was third off the bike but he dropped out of the top 10 early on the run.
Charles broke the swim record for the women before Ryf took the race by the scruff of the neck.
Ryf clocked an astonishing bike split of 4:26:07, to smash the previous mark by 18 minutes, and grabbed the lead from Charles in the process.