Posted: September 7, 2004

Triathlon: Defending champion Harju leads men’s field at 2004 Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon

MADISON, Wisc.-Defending Ironman Wisconsin champion Dave Harju (Canada) will lead a strong men’s field at the 2004 Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon set to take place on Sunday, September 12 in Madison and surrounding Dane County.

After a number of top finishes in the past three years at Ironman North America events,

Harju broke through for the first Ironman victory in his career by winning Ironman Wisconsin in September of 2003.

Harju overcame brutal race conditions as well as strong challenges from Torbjorn Sindballe (Denmark) and Uwe Weidmann (Germany) to win the Madison event with an overall time of eight hours, 55 minutes and 26 seconds.

The 35-year-old has also been in the top ten at Ironman USA Lake Placid (eighth in 2004, sixth in 2002 and 10th in 2000) as well as Ironman Florida (2001 and 2003).

Among the athletes expected to challenge Harju are Chuckie Veylupek (Boulder, Colo.) and Peter Kotland (Spartanburg, S.C.).

One of the more colorful characters in the world of Ironman, Veylupek is also a proven triathlete, having claimed the Ironman Canada triathlon title back in 1999. Known as "Chuckie V" in triathlon circles, Veylupek earned a thrilling win in Canada in 1999, edging Shino Tani of Japan and Bryan Rhodes of New Zealand to claim the crown Veylupek also finished second at Subaru Ironman Canada in 1998 and was third at Ironman Lanzarote in 1999.

Veylupek finished in sixth place at Subaru Ironman Canada held in late August of 2003.

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. A strong runner, Kotland’s marathon time of 2:49:31 was the fastest at the Camp Pendleton event.

Kotland also posted a fourth place overall finish at the 2000 Ironman Florida triathlon and was fifth at the inaugural Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon in 2003.

Four other athletes who have registered success at the Ironman-distance; Petr Vabrosuek (Czech Republic), Jan Strangmuller (Czech Republic), Andy Martin (Bend, Ore.) and Juergen Hauber (Germany) are also expected to be in the thick of things at Ironman Wisconsin in 2004.

Vabrousek has posted 11 top-five finishes in his triathlon career, including a pair of titles.

The 30-year-old, who hails from the Czech Republic, claimed Ironman titles in 2000 at Ironman South Africa and Ironman Korea, and continues to race more than any other Ironman athlete. Vabrousek raced in an amazing SIX Ironman events in 2001. (South Africa, Brazil, Austria, Canada, the Ironman World Championship and Ironman Florida).

Among his top recent performances were fourth-place finishes at both Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Wisconsin (2003) and a third-place finish at Ironman Malaysia (2004).

Strangmuller posted the first Ironman win of his career in August of 2003 by winning Ironman Korea. The 27-year-old Czech has also finished fifth at Ironman California (2000) and seventh at Ironman Florida (2001).

Martin has had an impressive beginning to his professional triathlon career, finishing in fourth place at Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene in June of 2004 and then finishing seventh at Ironman USA Lake Placid less than one month later.

Hauber has proven to be a top contender at numerous Ironman events around the world. The 36-year-old German posted a career-best second place finish at the Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon back in 1999, posting an overall time of nine hours, three minutes and 39 seconds, second only to fellow countryman and Ironman standout Thomas Hellriegel.

Hauber has also finished third at Ironman Brazil (2000) and Ironman Australia (1999). Most recently Hauber was seventh overall at Ironman Wisconsin in 2003.

Others who could challenge for the men’s title include Bernd Eichhorn (Germany), Chris McDonald (New Zealand), Jonas Colting (Sweden) and Alexander Fruehwirth (Austria). McDonald was fifth at Ironman France in 2004 while Fruehwith has been in the top ten at Ironman Austria each of the past four seasons, including a fourth-place finish in 2003. Colting has also has Ironman success in the past, finishing second at Ironman New Zealand in 2002.

Ironman Wisconsin will take place for the third time on Sunday, September 12 in Madison and surrounding Dane Country. Athletes will be competing for 80 qualifying spots to the 2005 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii as well as a $25,000 pro prize purse.

For more information on Ironman Wisconsin, log onto www.ironmanwisconsin.com