Pete Jacobs Leads 260 Aussies To Hawaii With Kona On Their Minds
Ironman, Triathlon, September 26, 2013: Defending champions, Australia’s Pete Jacobs and Great Britain’s Leanda Cave are among the 2000 elite competitors who will line up for triathlon’s annual IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on October 12, 2013 - the most iconic endurance event in the world.
The 2013 field of athletes will tackle a 2.4-mile open water swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run within 17 hours.
While athletes of all ages have qualified to compete in the World Championship, the average age of 2013 male registrants is 42 and the average age of female registrants is 40, defying commonly held notions about peak physical performance.
The ages of IRONMAN World Championship athletes are almost as varied as their countries of origin. The United States is the most represented with 756 competitors, accounting for nearly 35 percent of entrants this year.
Australia tops the international countries list with 260 entries who have earned slots at IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 events held worldwide.
The green and gold contingent is followed by Germany (204), Canada (141), Great Britain (88) and Switzerland (73).
Jacobs and Cave will be joined by several first-time competitors including Australia’s own Paratriathlon king Bill Chaffey, fresh from his amazing “never-say-die” victory to win his fourth ITU World Championship in London recently; celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward and Sugarland guitarist Thad Beatty.
The 2013 field will also include Hiromu Inada, an 80-year-old man from Yachiyo, Japan, and Harriet Anderson, 79, of San Carlos, California — along with triathletes as young as 18 and hailing from 52 countries around the globe — a far cry from the 12 finishers in the inaugural event, staged in 1978.
The last six years have been dominated by Australians with an Australian male on top of the podium every year with Chris McCormack starting the streak in 2007 followed by Craig Alexander in 2008 and 2009, McCormack again in 2010, Alexander his third in 2011 before Jacobs turned his silver that year into Kona gold in 2012.
The Sydney –born, Noosa-based Jacobs said after his win in the inaugural Sunshine Coast 70.3 event in Mooloolaba last week that he was “in better shape” than he was last year.
"I feel I'm in better shape," he told reporters. "I feel like I'm not on the borderline of getting an injury and my legs aren't tight anywhere.
"I've been working on strength on the bike and a bit in the gym so at the end of the bike leg I still felt like my legs could have kept going.
"I wanted to feel like I could go around again because (come Kona) I have to go around again (twice the distance) so to have that strength and to not fatigue was what I wanted."
"It was good to find out that the training was going to plan.”
Forty-year-old McCormack has been forced out of the race with mononucleosis (glandular fever), questioning whether the two-time winner will ever return to Kona in an elite capacity.
The women’s field will be spearheaded by Australia’s 2010 winner Mirinda Carfrae who again put the finishing touches to her preparations with a win in the Muskoka 70.3 in Huntsville Ontario, Canada.
Carfrae has been on the podium for the past four years, having finished second in 2009, winning in 2010, second in 2011 and third to Cave and Caroline Steffen (Switzerland) last year.
The 2013 IRONMAN World Championship can be viewed live exclusively on www.ironman.com. The comprehensive coverage will capture every aspect of the race and features an Athlete Tracker and live blog.
About IRONMAN
The iconic IRONMAN® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world. Since the inception of the IRONMAN® brand in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines at the world’s most challenging endurance races. Recognized for excellence through distinguished events, world-class athletes and quality products, World Triathlon Corporation (d/b/a IRONMAN), owner and operator of the IRONMAN® Series, has grown from owner of a single race to a global sensation with more than 190 events across five unique brands: IRONMAN®, IRONMAN 70.3®, 5150™ Triathlon Series, Iron Girl® and IronKids®. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.
Issued on behalf of Triathlon Australia…..
Ian Hanson| Media Manager Triathlon Australia
Managing Director
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