TRIATHLON – VINCENT Luis of France and Georgia Taylor-Brown of Britain stormed to a Bahrain Victorious 13 double yesterday in the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain 2024.
Luis and Taylor-Brown overcame challenging windy conditions to be crowned champions of the men’s and women’s pro categories, respectively.
The event was held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and it featured a massive field of 1,400 participants, both men and women, representing 84 countries.
They battled it out over a 1.9-kilometre swim, a 90km bike ride, and 21.1km run, with the start and finish at Reef Island in Manama.
Luis emerged triumphant following a sensational comeback in the concluding leg after trailing for much of the race. He was joined on the podium by countryman Mathis Margirier and German Wilhelm Hirsch.
Taylor-Brown, meanwhile, was making her debut in an Ironman 70.3 event but showed her impressive talent with her stunning victory. Like Luis, she gained the lead during her half-marathon and won ahead of the German pair of Tanja Neubert and Caroline Pohle, who was last year’s runner-up.
With their results, a Bahrain Victorious 13 athlete has now won the kingdom’s race every year it has been held since 2015. It was also the first time since 2019 that the team, led by His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs and Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has swept the men’s and women’s elite races.
“It was an aggressive race from the start and the guys went really hard on the bike,” said Luis, who won for the second time in Bahrain yesterday to add to his triumph from 2022.
“I had to let it go for a bit but when I knew the gap was 90 seconds, I felt I could make it up later, and that I did.
“It was good to win here and of course it’s good also that Georgia won, so one and one for Bahrain Victorious and hopefully we can repeat this winning streak in the coming years.”
Added Taylor-Brown: “I’m worried I will never walk again but I’m happy to have done my first 70.3, especially here in Bahrain, which makes it even more special.
“To take the win is a surprise and feels so good. The support and enthusiasm really got me through today and knowing Vince got the win before me, I couldn’t let the team down!”
Luis’s victory yesterday was six minutes quicker than his maiden triumph two years ago.
At the end of the opening swim stage, he was in the lead with a blistering split of 22 minutes 36 seconds. On the flat bike course, the two-time triathlon world champion and Olympic bronze medallist stayed focused even as others surged past. He rode into the bike-to-run transition in fourth, completing it in one hour 59 minutes and 25 seconds – staying just under two minutes from the leader. He then began to make up the deficit midway through the run before applying a devastating finishing kick to complete the leg in 1:06:57 – the fastest for the day – to secure first place in a total time of 3:32:21.
Margirier was in the lead until Luis made his move to the front. He had his compatriot in his sights but could not match his decisive pace at the finish and had to settle for second in 3:32:37. Hirsch completed the podium in 3:33:19, while fellow-German Jannik Schaufler took fourth place in 3:36:01.
Kacper Stepniak of Poland was fifth in 3:36:27, while Johannes Vogel of Germany was sixth in 3:37:38, Rasmus Svenningsson of Sweden seventh in 3:37:59, and Jack Hutchens of Britain in eighth in 3:38:31.
Bahrain Victorious’ other athlete, Henri Schoeman of South Africa, came 11th in 3:43:53.
On the distaff, Taylor-Brown paced herself right behind the leaders over the swim and bike legs, which she clocked in 26:28 and 2:11:58, respectively. She then made her push to the front in her first-ever half-marathon, and ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Neubert until the halfway mark.
The triple Olympic medallist and two-time world champion then powered ahead and ran solo to the finish, winning in a time of 3:56:56. She was nearly half-a-minute clear of Neubert, who finished in 3:57:18, while Pohle took third in 4:01:49.
Natalie Van Coevorden of Australia was fourth in 4:07:13, Alice Betto of Italy fifth in 4:14:23, and Marlene de Boer of the Netherlands came sixth in 4:16:06. Rounding off the top eight were Laura Addie of Britain in 4:20:23 and Joeanna Nielsen of Denmark in 4:55:20.
An official awarding ceremony was held last night at Reef Island, attended by Shaikh Nasser and other top officials. Shaikh Nasser presented trophies and other prizes to the winning athletes.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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