Ronnie Schildknecht and Jesse Donavan win Ironman South Africa
Schildknecht does it on the bike, and Donavan on the marathon.
Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) dominates the bike ride and Jesse Donavan (USA) mounts a remarkable come from behind win at the ninth Ironman South Africa today.
After a race leading 49:56 swim, and 4:46:05 ride, things looked good for Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow – the 2010 Ironman 70.3 Champion, and three-time Ironman 70.3 South Africa Champion. She was in full control of the race leading by over 21 minutes. But since this is Ironman racing and nothing is automatic, the race was not over.
American Jessie Donavan, the 37 year old mother of three and 2012 Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Mont-Tremblant Champion had Swallow in her sights and was not about to give up. Swallow led by 16 minutes over Donavan at the 23 km mark but the wheels were beginning to fall off. Just 9 km later, Donavan only trailed by 4:50 and with 5 km to go, she assumed the race lead finishing off with a 3:09:11 top marathon to win her third career Ironman title with a time of 9:10:58. Swallow hung on for second (9:17:00), and Lucie Reed of the Czech Republic took third (9:27:07).
For the men, the winner of the race was determined after the 180 km bike ride. Switzerland’s Ronnie Schildknecht roared to the front and by the time he completed the ride in a race best 4:22:01, he held a close to 11 minute lead. He ran 2:53:03 to earn a relatively easy victory in 8:11:24. However there was an exciting battle for second. France’s Cyril Viennot outran (2:48:35 – top run) to claim second (8:19:51) just ahead of Bas Diederen of the Netherlands (8:20:09).
Top 10 Women
| Donavan, Jessie | United States | 01:07:11 | 04:50:27 | 03:09:11 | 09:10:58 | 1 |
| Swallow, Jodie Ann | Saipan | 00:49:56 | 04:46:05 | 03:36:44 | 09:17:00 | 2 |
| Reed, Lucie | Czech Republic | 00:52:17 | 05:11:31 | 03:18:59 | 09:27:07 | 3 |
| Brãndli, Simone | Switzerland | 00:54:43 | 05:00:56 | 03:31:59 | 09:32:24 | 4 |
| Mcewan, Dianne | South Africa | 00:57:52 | 05:16:43 | 03:18:57 | 09:37:45 | 5 |
| Grossrieder, Monique | Switzerland | 01:07:08 | 05:13:23 | 03:23:11 | 09:48:22 | 6 |
| Grohmann, Katharina | Germany | 01:16:17 | 05:13:17 | 03:19:27 | 09:55:52 | 7 |
| Pekerman, Nina | Israel | 01:04:36 | 05:15:05 | 03:33:50 | 09:59:13 | 8 |
| Blazevic, Svetlana | Serbia | 00:52:50 | 05:22:13 | 03:48:07 | 10:08:42 | 9 |
| Carritt, Joanna | Saipan | 01:06:53 | 05:13:21 | 03:51:36 | 10:16:59 | 10 |
Top 10 Men
| Schildknecht, Ronnie | Switzerland | 00:52:48 | 04:22:01 | 02:53:03 | 08:11:24 | 1 |
| Viennot, Cyril | France | 00:52:18 | 04:35:17 | 02:48:35 | 08:19:51 | 2 |
| Diederen, Bas | Netherlands | 00:49:27 | 04:38:15 | 02:48:48 | 08:20:09 | 3 |
| Reichel, Horst | Germany | 00:49:44 | 04:37:56 | 02:50:38 | 08:22:34 | 4 |
| Chabaud, Francois | France | 00:52:21 | 04:35:02 | 02:58:11 | 08:29:30 | 5 |
| Faure, Herve | France | 00:52:47 | 04:34:20 | 03:02:48 | 08:34:20 | 6 |
| Buckingham, Kyle | South Africa | 00:53:00 | 04:39:00 | 02:58:40 | 08:34:35 | 7 |
| Dominik, Berger | Austria | 00:49:29 | 04:37:52 | 03:12:22 | 08:43:53 | 8 |
| Horner, Kent | South Africa | 00:49:31 | 04:37:59 | 03:13:14 | 08:44:32 | 9 |
| Dzalaj, Karol | Slovakia | 00:57:52 | 04:33:48 | 03:09:34 | 08:45:42 | 10 |
