It was a mega weekend of racing for the Bahrain Victorious 13 across continents and triathlon distances.
Kristian Blummenfelt took bronze in the men’s race at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii on a record-breaking day. With a time of 7:43:23, he and the Top 4 athletes surpassed the full distance Kona course record of 7:51:13 set by Jan Frodeno in 2019.
He swam with the front pack, worked together with training partner and eventual winner Gustav Iden in the first chase group to keep the pace high and stay within striking distance as Sam Laidlow broke away up front, then put in a fleet second-fastest 2:39:21 marathon that beat the previous run course record, holding off any other challengers to the podium.
The result for Blummenfelt caps off an historic season for the Norwegian, claiming an Olympic gold medal, and the 2021 Ironman World Championship title held in St George back in May, postponed due to the pandemic.
Joe Skipper finished in fifth, one step up from his previous Kona performance. Four minutes down from the swim leaders, he rode among the strong cyclists in the second chase group and then moved up the field running the day’s sixth-fastest marathon.
David Plese placed 32nd, recording his fifth finish on the Big Island.
Lauren Parker won the para category, marking her second Ironman world title of the calendar year after also winning in St. George, Utah in May.
In the women’s race, Daniela Ryf came out of the water about seven minutes back from the swim leader but turned up the pace to record the day’s fastest bike split and be first off the bike. She ultimately finished eighth.
Georgia Taylor-Brown topped the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Cagliari, Italy, consolidating her lead atop the world rankings going into the final two races in the series. Racing over the Olympic distance, the Tokyo silver medallist from Great Britain came out of the 1.5km swim in the front group with Cassandre Beaugrand, then tacked onto a bike breakaway led by Taylor Knibb and steered clear of a crash that split the field and alienated other speedy runners like Beaugrand from medal hopes. Off the 40km bike leg and onto the 10km run Taylor-Brown controlled the pace, then switched on the afterburners in the final stretch to record the second-fastest run split of the day and clinch the win.
Beaugrand finished in eighth with a run almost half a minute faster than Taylor-Brown’s, and rises one spot to a career-best third in the world. In the men’s race, Tyler Mislawchuk finished in 39th position after technical issues on the bike.
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