Posted: May 3, 2004

Triathlon: Gollnick, Kehr, Allison To Race at Florida Half-Ironman at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort

CLERMONT, Fla.-A trio of top female competitors have their intentions to compete in the inaugural Florida Half-Ironman at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Sunday, May 23.

Heather Gollnick (Hartford, Wisc.), Gina Kehr (Redwood City, Calif.) and Lynley Allison (New Zealand) have all been successful at Ironman events around the world and will compete in the Florida event.

Gollnick has won three U.S. Ironman events in her short professional triathlon career.

She posted the first Ironman win of her career at the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin triathlon in September 2002. Gollnick’s overall time of nine hours, 54 minutes and 54 seconds was more than 18 minutes faster than second-place finisher Yoko Okuda of Japan.

The 33-year-old overcame brutal weather conditions to claim her second Ironman Wisconsin women’s title in September 2003. She also won the inaugural Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene title back in June of 2003.

Kehr has finished in the top 10 at the Ironman World Championship three times, including a career best seventh-place finish in the 2003 event. She also posted top 10 finishes at the Kona, Hawaii event in 2000 and 2001.

The 34-year-old Kehr finished second at Ironman France in 2002 and was second at Ironman USA Lake Placid in 2003. Kehr was crowned the U.S. Ironman National Champion for her efforts in Lake Placid as the top overall female finisher from the United States.

Allison has posted four top-five finishes in her Ironman career, including runner-up finishes at Ironman New Zealand in 2004 and at the inaugural Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon held in June of 2003. The 31-year-old New Zealander also finished fourth at Ironman New Zealand in 2003 (9:41:09), third at Ironman New Zealand in 2002 (9:34:46), fifth at Ironman Korea in 2002 (10:05:42) and sixth at Ironman New Zealand in 2001 (10:05:37).

More than 2,000 triathletes from around the world are expected to compete in the inaugural Florida Half Ironman at WALT DISNEY WORLDâ Resort. Athletes will be competing for 30 qualifying spots to the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, as well as a $25,000 pro prize purse.

For more information on the event, log onto www.floridahalfironman.com.