Belinda Granger | The Dragonfly Swimmer

Wellington dominates for a third time

Author: Chrissie Published: July 18th, 2011

ROTH, Germany (10 July 2011) —World-beating triathlete Chrissie Wellington continued her dominance of the sport with an 8:18:13 win at Challenge Roth today, smashing her own world best time of 8:19:13 that she set here last year. In doing so she finished a remarkable fifth overall, with only four men taking the better of her on the day. “I just did something that I never thought was possible, and that means so much to me, and hopefully to women in sport,” an elated Wellington said at the finish. ”Those close to me will tell you that I didn’t think that the world record could be broken, especially with the bike course being an extra 2km longer.” The ever-smiling Wellington was dominant from start to finish, exiting the water in 49:49, just clear of chasing Kiwi Belinda Harper and more than 90 seconds ahead of prime challenger Rebekah Keat of Australia. She quickly accelerated onto the bike course under clear blue skies, reaching the cheering thousands lining the famous Solarer Berg climb at 70km with a gap of 3:45 over a chase group that included Australians Keat and former Roth champion Belinda Granger. By the time she reached the Solarer Berg for the second time, her gap over the rest of the women had ballooned to nearly eight minutes over the duelling Granger and Keat. And when she traded her bike for running shoes she had more than 12 minutes in hand over the chasers. Behind her, Keat had pulled away from Granger in the last stages of the bike to start the run in second. On the marathon Wellington carried on at a similarly scorching run pace, ticking the kilometres over at sub-4:00 pace for much of the way to produce a 2:44 marathon, a new course record. “I knew I was running faster than last year,” she said. “The aim was not to fade as much as I did last year and I managed to achieve that aim. I didn’t actually know what the time was until I rounded the corner so I really didn’t have a clue. I knew that it was close but my watch had fogged up so I couldn’t see too much.” Keat, meantime, was battling alone for second until German long-course newcomer Julia Wagner, racing to a 3:07 marathon, overtook her in the waning kilometres of the run to seal second. Wagner, second at the half-distance Challenge Kraichgau earlier this year, also brought home the German national championship with her finish. “It’s absolutely incredible what happened today and I think it will take some days until I realize what I’ve done,” Wagner said. “I didn’t expect that I could get Rebecca [on the marathon]. When I saw her coming closer and closer, all the spectators shouted at me and that gave me an extra push.” Keat described her marathon as “42 kilometers of pain” after a bike ride spent pushing the pace, especially on the second lap of the 180km, and said she was pleased to be as close to Wellington as she was at T2. “I left it all on the bike. I had nothing.” And she was gallant at the finish, saying of Wagner: “She’s definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. It’s a big achievement for her.” New Zealand’s Belinda Harper was fourth in 9:06:47, with Granger, winner here in 2005, fifth in 9:12:56. The tenth edition of Challenge Roth, the world’s largest long-course triathlon, drew a record field of 5,250 athletes (3,300 individual starters and 640 teams) to tackle the 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and 42km marathon run. The top ten men and women will divide a prize purse of 73,500 euro, with 15,000 euro going to the individual male and female winners. For more, visit www.challenge-family.com. The Challenge Family features 13 races across three continents, including Challenge Roth, Challenge Wanaka (New Zealand), Challenge Fuerteventura and Challenge Barcelona (Spain), Challenge Kraichgau (Germany), Challenge Cairns (Australia), Challenge Copenhagen and Challenge Aarhus (Denmark), Challenge Vichy (France), Challenge Walchsee (Austria), Challenge Henley-on-Thames (UK) and Challenge Cape Town (South Africa). To learn more about the series, visit www.challenge-family.com RESULTS Challenge Roth (3.8km/180km/42.2km) 10 July 2011; Roth, Germany 1) Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 8:18:13 (49:49/4:40:39/2:44:35) 2) Julia Wagner (GER) 8:56:23 (51:28/4:54:27/3:07:25) 3) Rebekah Keat (AUS) 8:59:22 (51:27/4:51:05/3:13:51) 4) Belinda Harper (NZL) 9:06:47 (50:00/4:55:48/3:17:43) 5) Belinda Granger (AUS) 9:12:56 (51:34/4:50:38/3:26:57)

Tags: Australia, Austria, Barcelona, Belinda Granger, Belinda Harper, big achievement, bike course, bike ride, blue skies, cape town, Challenge Aarhus, Challenge Barcelona, Challenge Cairns, Challenge Cape Town, Challenge Copenhagen, Challenge Family, Challenge Fuerteventura, Challenge Henley-on-Thames, Challenge Kraichgau, Challenge Roth, Challenge Vichy, Challenge Walchsee, Challenge Wanaka, challenger rebekah keat, chase group, cheering thousands, Chrissie Wellington, Copenhagen, Denmark, elated wellington, EUR, ever-smiling wellington, extra push, france, German national championship, Germany, half-distance challenge kraichgau, Hospitality Recreation, Julia Wagner, Kiwi Belinda Harper, Kraichgau, largest long-course triathlon, Marathon, marathon run, marathon wellington, new course record, New Zealand, newcomer julia wagner, prize purse, Rebekah Keat, Road Running, ROTH, roth champion belinda, run pace, Solarer Berg, Solarer Berg climb, South Africa, Spain, Sports, triathlete chrissie wellington, triathlon, United Kingdom, visit www.challenge-family.com, Wagner, waning kilometres, Wellington, world best time, www.challenge-family.com
Category Professionals |

Chrissie Wellington sets new World Record for women’s Ironman event

Author: Chrissie Published: April 11th, 2011

Three-time World Ironman Champion Chrissie Wellington took Ironman South Africa by storm on Sunday in Port Elizabeth. Wellington put on yet another impressive record-breaking performance by shattering the Ironman South Africa bike, run and course records, to finish in a time of 8:33:56 and in the process record the all-time fastest women’s time for a sanctioned Ironman event. In bettering the previous course record by an enormous 42m:36s, Wellington’s time was also good enough for an eighth-place finish overall.

Wellington exited the water in 51:40, which left her 2:45 in arrears to swim leader Amanda Stevens of the USA (45:55) and only 0:34 back to her fellow compatriot, Rachel Joyce (51:06), as she hit the beach.

However, the 34 year-old then made quick work of eliminating her deficit and disposed the leading pair in the opening kilometers of the bike. In typical Wellington fashion, she increased lead with every pedal stroke. In wiping out Natasha Badmann’s Ironman South Africa bike course record of 4:45:23, Wellington managed to build up an insurmountable 16:51 advantage over her closest rival, Rachel Joyce, and greater leads over Belinda Granger, Stevens and Diana Riesler as competitors entered the bike-run transition.

After the damage she inflicted on the women’s field on the bike, Wellington set out on a blistering pace for the three-lap run course, eventually crossing the (marathon distance) finish line in a time of 2:52:54 – the fastest run split of the day for both the men and women’s fields. Her remarkable time of 08:33:56 was significantly quicker than the previous women’s world of 08:36:13 set in November 2010 at Ironman Arizona.

Once the dust had settled on her record breaking victory, Wellington said:

“I am so incredibly thrilled with the result of the Spec Savers Ironman Africa. To get the victory, and break the World Ironman Record gives me a huge amount of pride and satisfaction, but more importantly it causes me to rethink what is humanly possible for both myself and others in endurance sports.

Having spent the last two months training in the wonderful town of Stellenbosch near Cape Town I have had the opportunity to experience the rich South African culture, fantastic scenery, great food, incredible hospitality and passion - and this has made racing here all the more special. I am so happy I was able to give everyone a show to remember!”

Women’s Results
1 WELLINGTON, Chrissie 8:33:56
2 JOYCE, Rachel 9:08:23
3 RIESLER, Diana 9:20:37
4 FELT, Sylvia 09:24:31
5 STEVENS, Amanda 09:25:50
6 GRANGER, Belinda 09:28:59
7 BENZ, Simone 09:31:21
8 EMERY, Dianne 09:44:47
9 DOGANA, Martina 09:47:47
10 GRICE, Yvette 09:59:28

Tags: Africa, Africa bike, all-time fastest women, Amanda Stevens, arrears, Belinda Granger, bike course, Bike-Run Transition, blistering, cape town, Chrissie, Chrissie Wellington, closest rival, compatriot, course records, deficit, diana, Diana Riesler, eighth place, eighth-place finish, endurance sports, enormous 42m, every pedal stroke, fantastic scenery, fastest run split, fellow compatriot, Finish Line, food, granger, great food, impressive record, impressive record-breaking performance, incredible hospitality, Ironman Arizona, Ironman Champion Chrissie, ironman event, Ironman South Africa, kilometers, leader, leader amanda stevens, Marathon, marathon distance, Natasha Badmann, Natural Disaster, New World Record, opening kilometers, pedal stroke, Port Elizabeth, previous course, previous women, quick work, rachel joyce, record breaking victory, remarkable time, rethink, shattering, South Africa, South African culture, spec savers, Stellenbosch, three-lap run course, thrilled, time world, typical wellington fashion, United States, Wellington, wonderful town, World Ironman, World Ironman Record, Yvette
Category Professionals |