Posted: July 26, 2004

Triathlon: Lessing, Major set new course records in winning 2004 Ironman USA Lake Placid

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.-Great Britain’s Simon Lessing and Australia’s Kate Major claimed the men’s and women’s titles respectively at the 2004 Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon held on Sunday in Lake Placid.

The duo set new overall course records, as perfect weather conditions and strong performances saw both the men’s and women’s overall records fall at the sixth annual Lake Placid event.

Lessing, a five-time Olympic-distance triathlon World Champion, led wire-to-wire, posting his first-ever Ironman victory with an overall time of eight hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds. Lessing’s time was 10 minutes faster than the former course record set in 2001 by Steve Larsen.

Luke Bell (Australia) posted an outstanding performance in finishing second in 8:37:58 with fellow Australian Courtney Ogden finishing third in 8:50:45. Andriy Yastrebov (Ukraine) finished fourth in 8:56:47 and Shingo Tani (Japan) fifth in 9:00:51.

Major took control of the women’s race with a superb bike, building a huge lead to coast to the women’s title with an overall time of nine hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds. The win was the first of Major’s career, and came over a women’s field that featured three athletes who had claimed Ironman titles in their careers.

Major’s time of 9:24:42 set a new course record at the Lake Placid event and her bike split of 5:06:49 broke the women’s bike course record at Lake Placid by almost 15 minutes.

Four-time Ironman USA Lake Placid champion Heather Fuhr posted a superb run (3:04:21) to finish second with a time of 9:38:39. Joanna Lawn of New Zealand finished third with a time of 9:39:58, posting her third straight top-three finish at Ironman USA Lake Placid. Lawn is a two-time Ironman New Zealand champion.

Kim Loeffler (Colchester, Vt.) finished fourth in 9:54:27 with Nicole Rudan (Australia) finishing fifth in 10:08:31.

The 2004 Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon also served as the 2004 Ironman U.S. Championship, with Loeffler and Tim Luchinske (Lafayette, Colo.) claiming the men’s and women’s titles respectively. The highest placing U.S. finishers in each division are crowned U.S. Champions.

The 2004 Lake Placid event featured the largest field in the six-year history of the event (1,980). Athletes were competing for 100 qualifying spots to the 2004 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii as well as a $100,000 pro prize purse. Lessing and Major each receive $20,000 for their winning efforts.

For more information on Ironman USA Lake Placid, log onto www.ironmanusa.com. For race results, log onto www.ironmanlive.com.

Top Ten Results from the 2004 Ironman USA Lake Placid Triathlon
-Sunday, July 25, 2004, Lake Placid, NY 

Men
Simon Lessing, Great Britain, 8:23:12 
Luke Bell, Australia, 8:37:58 
Courtney Ogden, Australia, 8:50:45 
Andriy Yastrebov, Ukraine, 8:56:47 
Shingo Tani, Japan, 9:00:51 
Tim Luchinske, Lafayette, Colo., 9:01:43 
Andy Martin, Bend, Ore., 9:02:30 
Dave Harju, Canada, 9:13:05 
Mike Neill, Canada, 9:16:21 
Chann McRae, Austin, Texas, 9:25:18

Women
Kate Major, Australia, 9:24:42 
Heather Fuhr, Canada, 9:38:39 
Joanna Lawn, New Zealand, 9:39:58 
Kim Loeffler, Colchester, Vt., 9:54:27 
Nicole Rudan, Australia, 10:08:31 
Paula Bennett, Pittsburgh, Pa., 10:29:22 
Amy Cashion, Brookline, Mass., 10:32:21 
Leslie Myers, Burlington, Vt., 10:32:33 
Christine Dunnery, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., 10:33:03 
Angie Defilippi, Colchester, Vt., 10:35:54