Lisa Bentley had never finished on the podium at the Ironman World Championships – until yesterday
Lisa Bentley had her best ever finish at the Ironman World Championships yesterday in Kona, Hawaii.
Bentley, from Caledon, Ontario, battled all day and came away with her first podium result in the 29th edition of this grueling race finishing in third place in 9:25:18. To nobody’s surprise, Bentley was the fastest female runner of the day completing the marathon in 3:08:54
Bentley, who did not finish last year’s race because of a ruptured appendix, is moving in the right direction in terms of results - Bentley placed 4th in 2004 and was fifth in 2003. Bentley becomes the third Canadian to win a bronze medal at this historic event – Peter Reid won bronze last year, while Lori Bowden was third in 1992. Dating back to 1978, Canadian triathletes have now won 25 total medals in this race which covers a 4km swim, 180km bike and a 42km run.
Michellie Jones of Australia, who was second last year, won the women's race in 9:18:31. Last year, in her first appearance in Kona, Jones was incredible and almost caught 6-time champion Natascha Badman. Jones, with 2 Olympic Distance World Championships, an Olympic silver medal and almost 170 wins world-wide will now be considered as one of the greatest triathletes of all time.
The first-time winner was asked at the finish how she felt, said, "How do you think I feel? I am an Ironman world champion."
Desiree Ficker of Austin, Tex., was second in 9:24:02, just ahead of Bentley.
A classy Natascha Badmann, the defending champion who was looking for her record 7th title, obviously didn’t have a great day here, but she stuck it out to finish 10th overall.
The fact that as great a champion as Badmann rounded out the top 10 provided ample proof that this was an incredibly competitive day. It will long be remembered as a day that has celebrated a performance that will go down in history as the one that truly demonstrates why Michellie Jones will long be remembered as one of the greatest athletes who has ever taken part in a swim, bike and run event.
Germany's Normann Stadler won his second Ironman Triathlon title yesterday, setting a record in the bike stage and holding on in the marathon. Stadler and Jones each received $110,000 for their wins.
The 33-year-old Stadler, also the 2004 winner, finished the 140.6-mile endurance test in 8 hours, 11 minutes, 56 seconds. He completed the 112-mile bike leg in 4:18:23, more than 3 minutes better than last year's record pace.
One week after a powerful earthquake rocked the Big Island, the Ironman went off almost as if the 6.7 magnitude temblor hadn't hit. The only significant change was reducing part of the bicycle route to one lane.
Australia's Chris McCormack finished second among the men in 8:13:02. He trailed Stadler by as much as 8:28 at the 12-mile mark in the run. Defending champion Faris Al-Sultan of Germany finished third in 8:19:04.
The event opened with a 2.4-mile ocean swim amid strong swells in Kailua Bay.
The race drew most of the sport's top professionals, including four of the top five men from last year, and all five of the top women. The pros were vying for $580,000 in prize money and bonuses.
The field also included about 1,800 triathletes from all 50 states and about 50 countries, with ages ranging from 17 to 79. They started the race 15 minutes behind the pros.
The Men’s course record is 8 hours, 4 minutes and 8 seconds, set by Van Lierde in 1996. Paula Newby-Fraser of Encinitas, Calif., set the women's record of 8:55:28 in 1992.
It was also a great day for Canadian Brian Keast who won his second consecutive gold medal in the Men’s 45-49 division. Keast, from New Dundee, Ontario won the event in a time of 9:14:15. Last year Keast crossed the finish line in 9:11:56
Milos Kostic, from Regina, Saskatchewan, also won a gold medal for Canada. Kostic won the Men’s 65-69 division in 11:29:45.
Cullen Goodyear, from North Vancouver, was third in the Women’s 55-59 category crossing the finish line in 13:01:40
Complete race results are available at: TriathlonCanada.com
Triathlon Canada is the National Federation for the Sport of Triathlon and Duathlon in Canada.
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