Record breaking day at Ironman South Africa
Wellington crushes, Tissink defends on home soil.
England’s Chrissie Wellington and South Africa’s Raynard Tissink both had record-breaking performances at Ironman South Africa today.
Aside from trailing American Amanda Stevens out of the water (48:55), Wellington had a near perfect day in smashing the course record by 42 minutes and 36 seconds. She completed the swim in 51:40, and dominated the race once she mounted her Cannondale.
Wellington crushed the bike course in 4:45:23 (close to 10 minutes better than any other woman), and ran the only sub 3-hour woman’s marathon (2:52:54) to finish in 8:33:56. This not only gave her the women’s win but placed her eighth overall, beating quite a few professional men. Fellow countrywoman Rachel Joyce crossed the line next (9:08:23), and Germany’s Diana Riesler got third (9:20:37).
In the men’s race, Tissink showed experience and patience in earning his victory. Tissink trailed Germany’s Andreas Bocherer (47:42) after the swim by just over one minute, and stayed within striking distance of race leaders throughout the bike. Once off the bike, in second position behind Belgium’s Marino Vanhoenacker, Tissink continued the waiting game until just after the 18 km mark where Tissink passed Vanhoenacker (who ended up dropping out of the race) for the race lead that would not be surrendered. Bocherer chased hard but Tissink’s 2:53:21 marathon allowed him to defend his title (8:05:36), and set a new course record by 12 minutes. Bocherer claimed second (8:08:36), and South Africa’s James Cunnama closed out the podium in third (8:13:18).
Top 10 Women
1 WELLINGTON, Chrissie (ENG)Â 8:33:56
2 JOYCE, Rachel (ENG)Â 9:08:23
3 RIESLER, Diana (GER)Â 9:20:37
4 FELT, Sylvia (GER)Â 9:24:31
5 STEVENS, Amanda (USA)Â 9:25:50
6 GRANGER, Belinda (AUS)Â 9:28:59
7 BENZ, Simone (SUI)Â 9:31:21
8 EMERY, Dianne (RSA)Â 9:44:47
9 DOGANA, Martina (ITA)Â 9:47:47
10 GRICE, Yvette (ENG)Â 9:59:28
Top 10 Men
1 TISSINK, Raynard (RSA)Â 8:05:36
2 BOCHERER, Andreas (GER)Â 8:08:36
3 CUNNAMA, James (RSA)Â 8:13:18
4 FONTANA, Daniel (ITA)Â 8:18:51
5 VIENNOT, Cyril (FRA)Â 8:30:42
6 STURLA, Eduardo (ARG)Â 8:32:52
7 WIDMANN, Uwe (GER)Â 8:33:39
8 VABROUSEK, Petr (CZE)Â 8:40:36
9 DELSAUT, Trevor (FRA)Â 8:41:57
10 CSOKE, Balazs (HUN)Â 8:4
