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Frodeno smashes full distance world record at Challenge Roth

July 17, 2016
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Jan Frodeno announced earlier this year that he had his sights set on countryman Andreas Raelert’s full distance triathlon world record set at Challenge Roth in 2011. Today, the world champion smashed that record to go 7:35:39 at Roth, the largest triathlon in the world. His splits were remarkable across the board — 45:22 for the swim, 4:08:07 for the bike and 2:39:18 for the marathon — giving him a six-minute cushion against Raelert’s previous record of 7:41:33.

For the 2015 world champ and 2008 Olympic gold medalist, this accomplishment is just one of many that make Frodeno one of the greatest triathletes in the sport’s history. He led from the start, being the first out of the water and looking unstoppable right to the end. Crowds at Challenge Roth went wild as he crossed the finish line, 21 minutesbefore the runner up, Great Britain’s Joe Skipper.

Challenge Roth was extra exciting this year as female world champion Daniela Ryf also decided to join the impressive pro field last minute. She dominated the women’s race to win in 8:22:02. For Ryf, winning wasn’t the first priority at Challenge Roth today as she was determined to just race to her potential after an unfortunate DNF at Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt the weekend prior.

“It was one of these days where I didn’t care about winning, I just wanted to go out there and swim bike and run and I’m super happy it went so fast,” she said at the post-race press conference. “I came here as I missed that I could just go to a race and enjoy it. The race is stunning. The bike the nicest long distance one I have seen. I’ve heard so much about Challenge Roth and I’m really happy I could be a part of it.”