Ironman European Championship titles for Kienle and Abraham
Germany’s Sebastian Kienle and Great Britain’s Corinne Abraham won the Ironman European Championship titles today in Frankfurt, Germany.
Surprise, surprise. Kienle dominates the bike
Germany’s Jan Frodeno, the 2008 Olympic Triathlon Gold medalist, led all pros out of the water (45:39), he was closely followed by 2013 Ironman World Champion Frederik Van Lierde (45:44). Meanwhile, Kienle exited the swim in 49:40, and he soon served notice that he’d be collecting a championship to celebrate his birthday.
Kienle blasted to the front with a race best 4:12:13 bike split. That gave him a 5:36 lead over Van Lierde heading into the marathon. Any thoughts of catching Kienle ceased as he posted a 2:49:35 final run to grab the overall victory in 7:55:14 – the only athlete to go sub 8 hours. Van Lierde ran 2:49:14 to secure second (8:00:25), and Frodeno ran an impressive 2:43:14 to claim third (8:07:05).
Top 5 Men
1. Kienle, Sebastian GER 7:55:14
2. Van Lierde, Frederik BEL 8:00:25
3. Frodeno, Jan GER 8:07:05
4. Schildknecht, Ronnie SUI 8:12:54
5. Degasperi, Alessandro ITA 8:20:39
Abraham notches her second Ironman victory
Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow (47:22) and Mary Beth Ellis (47:27) set the pace from outset, and placed themselves 7 minutes ahead of Abraham at the start of the 180 km ride.
Abraham gained ground during the ride (a second best 4:49:06 ride), but Swallow managed to hold on to the lead riding 4:54:38. Meanwhile, 47-year-old Swiss Ironman legend Natascha Badmann rode 4:44:25, but was too far back after the swim for it to make a difference.
Swallow started the marathon with a 1:07 lead over Ellis, and a 1:58 gap over Abraham. Unfortunately for Swallow, those margins of time were not enough. Just past the halfway mark of the run, Abraham took over the lead and finished with a 3:04:38 marathon to win in 8:52:40. American Elizabeth Lyles ran 3:01:14 to move up into second (8:56:36), and New Zealand’s Gina Crawford took third (8:58:06).
“After the swim, I did not know my position, but I stayed calm. I knew there were faster girls than me. I worked really hard on the bike and felt the result of the training in Lanzarote. I tried to catch up the time I lost during the swim leg. The run went well, I tried to control my lead and to keep a safe gap on the girls chasing me. I was only sure when I passed the finish line,” said Abraham, who along with Kienle collected $25 000 US each for their efforts.
Top 5 Women
1. Abraham, Corinne GBR 8:52:40
2. Lyles, Liz USA 8:56:36
3. Crawford, Gina NZL 8:58:06
4. Möller, Kristin GER 9:02:17
5. Marsh, Amy USA 9:06:33
