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Frodeno still on track for Kona despite Achilles tendon injury that forced him out of Challenge Roth

"The tendon is fine ... it's in good shape."

Photo by: Ingo Kutsche

“He has one big final goal in his career, and that is to go again for a win in Kona,” Jan Frodeno’s coach, Dan Lorang said on the live coverage of Challenge Roth on the weekend after the three-time Kona champ pulled out of the race at the 3 km point of the marathon. Frodeno had agreed with Lorang and the rest of his team that if he felt that the pain got to a four or five (on a scale of one to 10), he would drop out of the race.

Jan Frodeno on the bike at Challenge Roth, 2022. Photo: Ingo Kutsche

“He stuck to the plan,” Lorang continued. “For sure he felt something … it was nice to be out in the crowd and to see that he could still be there, but it is time to be clever, pull out and be ready for Kona.”

Related: Ditlev and Haug win Challenge Roth

Yesterday Frodeno posted an update on his Instagram page, letting his fans know that according to his doctor, his Achilles tendon is going to be OK and he’s still on track to go after a fourth win on the Big Island.

“(It was a) Crazy day at Challenge Roth,” Frodeno said while sitting in his car – he clocked 1,000 km to get to his surgeon yesterday. “It was amazing to see so many people out there. The atmosphere was absolutely overwhelming.”

Jan Frodeno led out of the water at Challenge Roth. Photo: Ingo Kutsche

“Turns out I had pretty good arms and legs – the swim and the bike obviously went really, really well,” Frodeno continued. “Having to pull out on the run was tough, it was expected, but it was still one of those things when reality hits and you’ve got a good day and you’re in the mix … (It was a) Fantastic race that Magnus put together, being part of it was pretty special. But, in the long term we decided this was the best plan  for the big goal of going to Kona. This morning I drove to see my orthopaedic surgeon, Kaspar. The tendon is fine, it’s in good shape. It’s not ready for a marathon, or any crazy kind of work load, but we made a plan as to how we can get fit in the next three, four, five weeks to get back to 100 per cent running load. And then make full use of what seems to be good form.”

 

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