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Two former champions regained their titles as the top Ironman triathletes in the World as Australia’s Craig Alexander and Great Britain’s Chrissie Wellington took the Winners titles at the Ford Ironman World Championship held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Craig Alexander’s win was highlighted by a course-record finish time of 8:03:56 eclipsing the 16 year old record time held by Belgium’s Luc Van Lierde.
American Andy Potts cemented his position as the leading swimmer in Kona by exiting the Bay in healthy 49:44. Behind Potts, a large second group including most of the primary contenders exited the water together. The chase pack included at least 25 athletes with the major contenders, American Chris Lieto, Australian Craig Alexander and German Andreas Raelert all in the mix after the 3.8km swim.
Potts’ two-minute lead was cut short as the chase group swallowed him up. Top American cyclist, Chris Lieto took control early as he grabbed the lead by the 40km mark. This lead was however short-lived as Lieto rejoined the main group once again. A handful of athletes, including Germany’s Faris Al-Sultan and Australia’s Luke McKenzie, took turns at the front of the group that had now swelled in numbers. The race was far from decided at the turn around point in Hawi after 90km.favorites. Lieto eventually forced the pace on the bike over the last section of the bike, carrying a lead of almost five minutes off the bike and onto the run over McKenzie, Marino Vanhoenacker and Craig Alexander. Alexander posted a bike split of 4:24:05 which was the fastest out of the top 15 finishers across the line
Lieto managed to hold the lead for the first few miles of the run, but with the quick runners in the sport not far behind in he had little hope of holding out for the victory. Alexander took the lead just past the 10km marker. Germany’s Andreas Raelert looked to be gaining some ground on him as he turned onto the Queen K Highway, but his stride started slowing not to long after that. Alexander showed no signs of weakness throughout the entire day, racing his way to a 51:56 swim, 4:24:05 bike and a 2:44:02 marathon to take the win and a new course record time of 8:03:56, crushing Luc Van Lierde’s 1996 record of 8:04:08. Alexander also becomes the first person to win both the Ironman World Championship 70.3 and the Ironman World Championship in the same year. Australia’s Pete Jacobs ran the fastest marathon of the day ( 2:42:29) to take second spot in 8:09:11. Germany’s Andreas Raelert earned his third podium spot in as many years, finishing third at 8:11:07
Women’s Race
The women’s race started with the Amanda Stevens and Julie Dibens swimming with the leading men which gave them a large advantage over the rest of the women’s field by the time they exited the 3.8km ocean swim. Chrissie Wellington, a three-time Kona champion, exited the water in 17th position at 1:01:03, more than six minutes slower than her swim time in 2009.
Dibens overtook Stevens on the bike and broke away solo, establishing a gap of nearly six minutes over last year’s runner-up Caroline Steffen of Switzerland at the 60km mark. At that point the two fastest runners, Mirinda Carfrae and Wellington, were 10 minutes down and trailing in the heat. Dibens continued to build on her lead, entering T2 with a gap of about 11 minutes over Steffen. Carrying a foot injury heading out onto the 42km turned out to be a problem for Dibens as she was forced to walk while still leading the race. Steffen then took over first position with her lead not lasting long. Great Britain’s Chrissie Wellington ran her way from sixth off of the bike to first position by the 25km marker. Wellington went on to take the victory in 8:55:08, just over one minute slower than her 2009 record time of 8:54:02. Defending champion Mirinda Carfrae ran her way through the field, coming home in second in a finish time of 8:57:57. She also broke the run course record for the third year in a row, posting a split of 2:52:09 . Great Britain’s Leanda Cave finished third in 9:03:29.
Ford Ironman World Championship
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – Oct. 8, 2011
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run
Men
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 8:03:56
2. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 8:09:11
3. Andreas Raelert (GER) 8:11:07
4. Dirk Bockel (LUX) 8:12:58
5. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:20:12
Women
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 8:55:08
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 8:57:57
3. Leanda Cave (GBR) 9:03:29
4. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 9:06:57
5. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 9:07:32