Cody Beals celebrates “most meaningful podium” of his career
Runner-up finisher from Ironman Chattanooga celebrates "triumph of self-belief"

Canadian pro Cody Beals came within 20 seconds of taking Ironman Chattanooga on the weekend, but despite finishing second to American Sam Long, Beals was thrilled with his runner-up finish.
In a post on Instagram (see below), the Canadian star described the race as “the first truly world-class performance I’ve had in over two years … I needed that performance so damn badly. It was do or die time for my triathlon career.”
Beals explained that he’s struggled over the last two years, especially dealing with a case of Giardia that he’s been dealing with for almost a year.
“On top of that I’ve had comically bad luck with swim cancellations, including this race (Beals also raced Ironman Canada in August and Ironman Cozumel last November, where the swims were also cancelled),” he continued. “After all these setbacks and underperformance, you start to question everything. Is triathlon done with me, am I done with the sport. Are my best days behind me? So really, more than anything, this felt like a triumph of self belief.”

Beals felt that he “executed his race almost perfectly,” managing to hang on to Andi Dreitz and training partner Jackson Laundry for as much of the bike ride as he could, then running the best marathon of his career, a 2:38 split.
“I didn’t know I was within 20 seconds of Sam (Long) until the last 400 m,” he said.
“It’s just good to be back, and not quite washed up yet,” he continued. “I just appreciate everyone who refused to let me believe that.”
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