The Ironman World Championships men’s race has been won by Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt. Canadian Lionel Sanders ran down New Zealand native Braden Currie to take the second spot on the podium with Currie forced to settle for third. Currie was among the elite group out of the water led by Sam Laidlow and also included Daniel Baekkegard, Kyle Smith and Florian Angert. Blummenfelt came out of the water over two minutes down while Sanders exited the swim well over 4 minutes back. It was Cameron Wurf who initiated the push towards the leaders on the bike and both Blummenfelt and Sanders followed in tow. Sanders just edged Blummenfelt off the bike by mere seconds and the pair immediately began to chip away at the 4 plus minute deficit they faced starting the marathon. At the halfway mark of the run Blummenfelt had already moved up to second on the road while Sanders trailed in 6th place. At the 40km mark Blummenfelt had taken over Currie for first position on the road and Sanders moved up to 3rd. Blummenfelt went on to win the race in 07:49:16 with Canadian Sanders coming in at a time of 07:54:03. Currie took the final place on the podium in a time of 07:54:19. A very late push by Sanders cemented his second place position and it was heartbreak for Currie who spent most of the day at the pointy end of the race.
Blummenfelt adds to his Olympic Gold Medal and World Triathlon World Championship with his Ironman World Championship title today. The result bears more weight with today being only his second Ironman in his career. Sanders showed yet again that he is one of the strongest finishers at the Ironman distance with an impressive sprint to the line to net second best on the day.
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
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