Posted: March 13, 2006

Triathlon: McCormack, Lovato lead strong men’s field scheduled to compete at the Ford Ironman 70.3 California Triathlon

OCEANSIDE, Calif.-Four-time Ironman Australia champion Chris McCormack (Australia) and 2003 Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene champion Michael Lovato (Boulder, Colo.) are among the favorites in a strong men’s field scheduled to compete in the 2006 Ford Ironman 70.3 California Triathlon.

The event, which will take place on Saturday, March 18, will be taking place for the fifth time in Oceanside and on neighboring Camp Pendleton. More than 2,000 athletes from 25 countries are expected to compete in the event.

A long-time Olympic distance standout, McCormack has made his mark at the Ironman distance as well posting four straight wins at Ironman Australia in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. The 32-year-old Aussie posted his best performance in 2004 with an overall time of eight hours, 18 minutes and 10 seconds. McCormack was sixth at the Ford Ironman World Championship in 2005.

Lovato posted the first Ironman win of his career by claiming the men’s title at the inaugural Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon in June of 2003. Lovato overcame brutal conditions to post an overall time of eight hours, 40 minutes and 59 seconds to claim the title.

2003 also saw the 32-year-old place 9th overall at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii with an overall time of 8:36:56.

In 2005, Lovato finished second at the inaugural Ford Ironman Arizona and was third at Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

A number of top competitors from around the world are expected to challenge McCormack and Lovato, including two-time Ironman World Champion Luc van Lierde (Belgium), Luke Bell (Australia), Matt Seeley (Polson, Mont.), Timo Bracht (Germany) and Spencer Smith (Great Britain).

Van Lierde is one of only three active male triathletes to have won the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii more than once (Peter Reid of Canada and Tim DeBoom of the United States being the others).

The 36-year-old Van Lierde also holds the world record for the fastest Ironman time ever recorded (seven hours, 50 minutes and 27 seconds set at Ironman Germany in 1997) and also holds the course record at the World Championship (8:04:06 in 1996).

Bell burst onto the Ironman scene in impressive fashion in 2003, placing third at Ironman Australia and then ending his year in fine fashion with a fifth-place overall finish at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in October. He started the 2004 season right with an impressive second place finish at California Half Ironman in April. Bell was also second at Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid in 2004 and second at Ironman Australia in 2005.

Seeley has twice been in the top three at Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene. He finished third overall at the inaugural Coeur d’Alene event in 2003, and was second overall at the 2004 event. In 2005 he finished just out of the top three, placing 4th.

The 35-year-old also finished fifth at Ironman Canada in 2004 as well.

Bracht has won a pair of Ironman titles in his career, winning both Ironman Florida and Ironman France in 2003. The German standout was eighth at the 2004 Ironman World Championship as well.

Smith has seen major success at both long and short course triathlons in his career. The 32-year-old has posted a pair of top ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, including a fifth-place finish in 1998 and has posted a pair of Ironman wins in his career (Ironman Florida in 2001 and Ironman Brazil in 2002).

For more information on the Ford Ironman 70.3 California Triathlon, log onto www.ironmancalifornia.com.

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