Sharpe blasts at Boulder 70.3

For a guy who only made his long-distance debut in March (at Clash Miami – see video below), Tokyo Olympian Matthew Sharpe sure seems to be figuring it all out in a hurry. The former draft-legal specialist has been slowly honing his skills, even competing at the PTO Canadian Open in Edmonton two weeks ago (finishing 21st). Today he showed just how far he’s come with an impressive win at Ironman 70.3 Boulder.

Related: Matt Sharpe discusses his long-distance debut before an 11th-place finish at Clash Miami

Sharpe leads out of the water

With his short-course background it was hardly a surprise to see Sharpe lead the way through the swim with American Marty Andrie just a couple of seconds back. Those two were a minute up on the chase group four that included American pre-race favourites Ben Hoffman and Justin Metzler.

American Kennett Peterson pulled clear on the bike to hit T2 with a lead of about a minute on a group that included Metzler, Hoffman, Andre, with Sharpe trailing the leader by 1:46 as he started the run.

Out on the run course, though, Sharpe used the day’s fastest run to pull ahead, taking the day in 3:49:56, with Metzler and Hoffman rounding out the podium.

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