Samstag, 14. Oktober 2017

IRONMAN Hawaii Triathlon World Championship 2017: „Es kann nur Einen geben“

Nach dem erst zweiten Fall eines rein deutschen Podiums beim IRONMAN Hawaii im Jahr 2016 sind die Erwartungen an die Mitteleuropäer in der Bucht von in Kailua-Kona hoch.

Nach 1997 treffen sich mit Sebastian Kienle (Silber), Jan Frodeno (Gold) und Patrick Lange (Bronze) zum zweiten Mal drei Deutsche auf dem Podium des Ironman Hawaii Triathlons zu Blumenzeremonie und Champagnerdusche. Photo: WTC - Ironman.com

Es gibt jedoch einige Mit-Favoriten aus aller Welt, die die Krone auf dem Queen Ka?ahumanu Highway auf dem Weg hinauf zum Rad-Wendepunkt nach Hawi oder beim Anstieg aus dem Natural Energy Lab auf den letzten Kilometern des Marathons in der Lavawüste an sich reißen möchten. Physisch sind 6-8 Athleten bereit und fähig für den Sieg, mental letztlich nur ein einziger Profi-Triathlet…

 Wer gewinnt bei den Herren? Wie jedes Jahr die Prognose von 3athlon kurz und knapp:


  1. Jan Frodeno (GER)
  2. Patrick Lange (GER)
  3. Lionel Sanders (CAN)
  4. Sebastian Kienle (GER)
  5. Ben Hoffmann (USA)

Jan Frodeno (GER) wird sein Heil in der Flucht und Verbündete in exzellenten Schwimm-Radlern suchen, vielleicht ergänzt um Patrick Lange (GER). Gelingt es Lange nicht Frodeno auf dem Rad massiv unter Druck und in die rote Zone zu zwingen und im Umkehrschluss Frodo nicht, Lange auf dem Rad abzuschütteln wird es für beide Athleten ein spannender Marathon um den Sieg mit der Gefahr, dass sich beide übernehmen und überzocken.

Von hinten rollt zwischenzeitlich der Rad-Brutalo-Express im Duo Sebastian Kienle und Lionel Sanders heran, deren Auftritte in Kona immer mit einem bangen Blick auf den Rückstand im Schwimmen verbunden sind. Schaffen beide zusammen den Sprung in die Spitzengruppe gemeinsam und frühzeitig, wird das Feld umgehend gesprengt. Schafft es nur einer der beiden, hat der Nachzügler fast keine Chance mehr aufzuschließen und legal von der Dynamik der Gruppe mit dem Windschattenverbot von rund 10 Metern zu profitieren. Im Marathon hat Sanders, der rund 60% seines Trainings in allen Disziplinen auf Ergometern absolviert die besseren Karten und verweist Kienle auf den Rang mit der Holzmedaille.

Daniela Ryf hat ebenfalls den Weltmeistertitel verteidigen können. Als Sahnehäubchen gibt es einen neuen Streckenrekord mit 8:46:46 gleich dazu. Photo: WTC - Ironman.com

  1. Daniela Ryf (SUI)
  2. Sarah Crowley (AUS)
  3. Heather Jackson (USA)
  4. Kaisa Lehtonen (FIN)
  5. Lucy Charles (GBR)


Bei den Frauen wird sich Daniela Ryf an einem soliden Tag die Butter nicht vom Brot nehmen lassen, auch wenn die Saison wegen einer hartnäckigen Rückverletzung schleppend verlief. Die Mitbewerberinnen um die Krone der Queen of Kona rücken jedoch beständig auf und besonders beim Marathon, Ryfs „schwächster“ Disziplin, werden einige aus den Top 5 den Druck erhöhen. Das Frauenrennen, wie auch bei den Herren wird 2017 beim Marathon entschieden.

Weiterführende Links:

Donnerstag, 5. Oktober 2017

Red Bull TV with global live coverage of IRONMAN Triathlon World Championships

TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 5, 2017) – IRONMAN, a Wanda Sports Holdings company, announced today that the 2017 IRONMAN®World Championship will be broadcast internationally (outside of the United States) on Red Bull TV. Over nine hours of full race coverage from Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on October 14, 2017 will be available across multiple platforms both live and on demand, making the race accessible to a global audience like never before.

 “This is an extremely exciting year for our incredible professional athletes and fans of the sport as we broaden the broadcast of this extraordinary event,” said Christopher Stadler, Chief Marketing Officer for IRONMAN. “Through this partnership with Red Bull TV, we have taken another major step forward in bringing the IRONMAN World Championship event to an international audience.” 

The IRONMAN World Championship broadcast will be hosted by legendary IRONMAN World Champion and Grand Slam of Triathlon winner Greg Welch (AUS) and multiple IRONMAN Champion Michael Lovato (USA) and will also feature field reporters Matt Lieto (USA) and Charlie Webster (GBR).

The live-action will include new camera angles and aerial imagery and Red Bull TV will have four exclusive 30-minute Facebook Live feeds from varied points on the course. The coverage will put viewers in the heart of the action, while behind-the scenes stories will draw them even closer to the endurance stars chasing the crown on Hawai`i Island’s lava fields.

In addition, IRONMAN: Quest for Kona will now be featured on Red Bull TV internationally (outside of the U.S.). For years, thousands of spectators have witnessed the awe-inspiring live action of the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawai`i in person or through streaming on IRONMAN.com.

This year with addition of Red Bull TV, the 2017 race will reach its largest international audience ever, bringing the raw power and competitive nature of the top endurance athletes in the world, as well as some of the most extraordinary and impactful stories of courage and determination from the age-group athletes and everyday individuals competing alongside them.

Tune in to www.redbull.tv/ironman for coverage of the 2017 IRONMAN World Championship including full live coverage on Saturday, October 14, 2017. Red Bull TV is distributed digitally as an app across mobile phones, tablets, consoles, OTT devices and Smart TVs. If you’re in the United States, tune in to www.ironman.com for live coverage of the event.

Samstag, 10. Juni 2017

IOC includes the Triathlon Mixed Relays on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

The team around Marisol Casado, International Triathlon Union's President has reached another milestone in development and recognition of endurance sport Triathlon. After a long lobbying and team effort Triathlon Mixed Relays will be introduced into the Olympic program for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
"ITU is pleased to announce that the Triathlon Mixed Relays has been included on the Programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee announced on Friday June 9 the new events added for the next Olympics, which will be Triathlon Mixed Relays, Basketball 3x3, Archery Mixed Team event, 4x400 mixed relays in athletics, BMX freestyle Park, Madison in Cycling, team events in fencing, mixed team event in judo, mixed doubles in table tennis and 4x100m medley mixed relay in swimming.


In August 2020, the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo will host the third triathlon event during the next Olympics, giving triathletes the possibility to earn another Olympic medal. The Mixed Relays will represent a catalyst on the promotion of women athletes within all NOCs around the world, as it completely fulfils the Agenda 2020 requirements.

Marisol Casado, President of ITU and IOC Member, said: “We are absolutely delighted with this decision. We’ve been pushing for the Mixed Relays to be included in the Programme for quite a long time, as it is an event that gives the sport something very important: a sense of team building. But most important, is an event that demonstrates that women and men can compete together but both are equally important to the success of the team.


IOC President, Mr Thomas Bach, said: The fascinating new vents that we approved today, together with the five new sports that were added to the Tokyo 2020 programme last year, represent a step-change in the Olympic programme. I am delighted that the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 will be more youthful, more urban and will include more women”.

The Mixed Relays is one of the most thrilling events in triathlon, with teams of two men and two women completing each a short-course triathlon (300m swim, 8km bike, 2km run) before tagging off to their teammate to take over. With its rapid and unpredictable format, athletes love it and spectators enjoy it both onsite and on television, making it one of the most spectacular formats of the circuit.

With no extra athletes needed to be added to the Olympic Programme, and lots of extra excitement ensured, the Mixed Relays are also backed by triathlon fans and event organizers around the world. “It will be amazing if we could have two opportunities to get a medal at the Olympic Games,” said American Gwen Jorgensen. An Olympic winner herself in Rio 2016, she was one of the first triathletes backing ITU’s proposal of including the Mixed Relays on the Olympic Programme for Tokyo 2020. Hundreds of triathletes around the world, National Federations and Organizers of events have also joined the campaign.

“It was great to have the current Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee; Olympic silver medalist Jonathan Brownlee; ITU World Champion Non Stanford and current ITU World Champion Flora Duffy announcing this exciting news, as part of the athletes commitment with the gender equality policies we always support and encourage at ITU. We are proud that this message was given by our athletes to all the triathlon fans around the world, and also to the Olympic family”, said Casado.

The energetic, exciting, uncompromising and action-packed format also appeals tremendously to youth, as the Mixed Relay format showcases Triathlon to a new generation.

The excitement and drama of the Mixed Relay also makes it a marketable, spectator-friendly discipline that is dramatic viewing for television spectators and digital media.  Indeed, the Mixed Relay has massive engagement across media, with over 7 million TV spectators worldwide, 19 television outlets airing the World Championships, and 250,000 spectators lining the streets each year to enjoy live the Mixed Relays Worlds.

The Mixed Relays are already included in the programme of the Youth Olympic Games, the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, and have been recently added on the programme for the PanAmerican Games to be held in Lima 2018. The next World Championship will be held in Hamburg (Germany) on July 16.

Every year, over 60 countries organise Mixed Relay events, each with an average of 25 teams participating. A thrilling and engaging format in which National Federations are challenged to develop Triathlon for women and men equally across all levels of participation.  It also provides Triathletes with the opportunity to win more than one medal at the Olympics.

We are delighted to welcome another event, the Mixed Relays, to the Olympic races, and we are sure that with its unpredictable drama and the display of team pride, the Triathlon Mixed Relay format is a perfect fit for the Olympics." [1]
  1. IOC includes the Triathlon Mixed Relays on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics