Posted: October 17, 2004

Triathlon: Normann Stadler and Nina Kraft claim top spots at the 2004 Ironman Triathlon World Championship

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – German athletes dominated this year’s Ironman Triathlon World Championship, with Normann Stadler (33) and Nina Kraft (35) each claiming their first championship titles on Saturday, October 16. Stadler’s finish time today was 8:33:29 and Kraft crossed the line on Alii Drive at 9:33:25.

Stadler placed 4th in the 25th anniversary of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship race last year and has racked up multiple race titles this year, including Ironman Australia and Ironman Switzerland.

The men’s field consisted of the best, including last year’s champion Peter Reid, Cameron Brown, 2002 champion Tim DeBoom and several other major contenders. Normann stayed ahead of the pack throughout the bike and the run portion, with more than an 8-minute lead at the 100-mile marker of the bike leg. Stadler said at the finish line, “They all told me that a cyclist can’t win the race – Well, I just won!”

Last year’s champion, Peter Reid placed second with a time of 8:43:40 after making up three minutes during the run. Faris al Sultan and Alex Taubert, from Germany placed third and fourth respectively. Sultan’s time was 8:45:14, Taubert at 8:48:35 and Rutger Beke of Belgium, who took 2nd place last year, crossed the finish line in 5th place in 8:54:23 hours.

Kraft claimed her victory and similar to Normann, had a strong lead over the women’s field for a majority of the race. “Nina the Power Machina” controlled the bike with more than an 18-minute lead at the 95-mile marker. Being the only women this year to break the 9-hour mark must have prepared her well for the world championship race.

Following behind was second place finisher, Natascha Badmann of Switzerland with a time of 9:50:04. Heather Fuhr, holder of the most Ironman titles behind Paula Newby-Fraser, placed well in third at 9:56:19 and recent winner of the Ironman USA Lake Placid, Kate Major was fourth at 10:01:56. Lisa Bentley placed fifth after a successful racing year crossing the line at 10:04.

The event, now in its 26th year had more than 1,730 athletes line up at the starting line. This year, more than 40,000 athletes vied for one of the 1,700 qualifying spots for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship. More than 4,300 entered the lottery program, where 150 slots are given to the U.S. athletes and 50 slots to the international athletes.

Live coverage and results from the race is available by logging onto ironmanlive.com.