Sanders offers to pay for Frodeno’s expenses to come and race him at Ironman Coeur d’Alene
German world champion looking for a challenge this summer
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Earlier this week Germany’s three-time Ironman World Champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Jan Frodeno asked his fans on Instagram if they had any sporting challenges for him. “Kona is ages away long way away and they’ve moved everything else too close to Kona to contest it … I’m a little bit stuck.”
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Little did he know that Lionel Sanders would have both an answer, and even offer to pick up the tab!
Today on his own Instagram feed, Sanders posted a “throwback” photo from Ironman 70.3 Oceanside race in 2015, “The one and only time I got to go toe-to-toe with @janfrodeno.”
“No one has inspired me more or pushed me more to become a better athlete than him,” Sanders continued. “Jan, I hear you’re looking for a challenge. I’m willing to pay for your flight, hotel, rental car and meals if you come race me at Ironman Coeur D’Alene. I know the start list is already out but something tells me they’ll allow a late entry from the ?.”
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While we likely won’t see Frodeno on the line in Coeur d’Alene later this month, it will be interesting to see if Sanders does have the opportunity to race against the man he refers to as the “greatest of all time” at the Collins Cup in August. Frodeno currently sits atop the overall PTO standings and will lead the European team, while Sanders is the top man on the Internationals squad at this point. The last time the two met was at Challenge Miami, where Frodeno dominated the day and Sanders ran his way to second, 2:30 behind the German.
Related: The Collins Cup explainer
If for some reason the two aren’t matched up at the Collins Cup, we’ll no-doubt get to see them compete against each other in Kona in October.
