Posted: June 24, 2004

Triathlon: Lieto, Legh lead men’s field at 2004 Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene Triathlon

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho-2002 Ironman Wisconsin champion Chris Lieto (Danville, Calif.) and 2000 Ironman California champion Chris Legh (Australia) lead the men’s field scheduled to compete at the 2004 Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon set to take place on Sunday, June 27 in Coeur d’Alene and surrounding Kootenai County.

Lieto posted the first Ironman win of his career at the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin triathlon held in Madison, Wisconsin in September of 2002. Lieto held off a late charge by Legh to take the title with an overall time of eight hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds.

The 31-year-old Lieto finished second at the fifth annual Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon in July of 2003 and was 13th overall at the Ironman World Championship in October of that same year.

Most recently, Lieto placed second at the Florida Half Ironman in May of 2004.

Chris Legh is among the Australian elite in the sport of triathlon.

Legh claimed his first-ever Ironman title at the Ironman California triathlon in 2000. The Aussie standout led for the bulk of the inaugural event before coasting home almost 16 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.

The 31-year-old has also registered a pair of top-ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, as well as six top-three Ironman finishes in his career.

2002 saw Legh post a pair of top-five finishes at Ironman North America events. Legh was second to Lieto at the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin triathlon held in September of 2002 and was fourth at the Ironman Florida triathlon in November of 2002.

Two athletes who posted top five finishes at the inaugural 2003 Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon are also expected to compete on June 27.

Matt Seeley (Polson, Mont.) and Peter Kotland (Spartanburg, S.C.) finished third and fifth respectively at last year’s event and could challenge for their first Ironman title.

Seeley finished last year’s event with a time of 9:03:35, while Kotland has been a staple at Ironman North America events, posting six top-ten finishes over the past five years.

The 30-year-old finished a career-best third at the Ironman California triathlon held back in 2000 at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. Kotland’s time of 9:14:27 put him a little more than a minute out of second place at Ironman California.

Kotland also posted a fourth place overall finish at the 2000 Ironman Florida triathlon.

More than 1,800 athletes from around the world are scheduled to compete at the Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon. Athletes will be battling for 80 qualifying spots to the 2004 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, as well as a $50,000 pro prize purse.

For more information, log onto www.ironmancda.com