Triathlon Superstar Alistair Brownlee with shots at both course records at Ironman Hawaii and Challenge Roth

Montag, 1. April 2013

Triathlon Superstar Alistair Brownlee with shots at both course records at Ironman Hawaii and Challenge Roth

Alistair Brownlee, 2012 London Olympic gold medalist in Triathlon is aiming for another very special venture on his own. Following his successful debut on "longer" distance triathlon in Abu Dhabi (1,5k swim, 100k bike, 10k run), the fastest short-distance triathlet is aiming for a much longer appearance in 2013. The Yorkshire triathlet and renowned fierce competitor is aiming on probably two of the world’s most prestigious full-distance triathlons - Ironman Hawaii and Challenge Roth. The 24 old Brit won't commit all his talent into International Triathlon Union's 2013 World Champion Series season completely.

Alistair Brownlee rocked this year Yas Marina Formula 1 race circuit. What can he achieve at Challenge Roth and Ironman Hawaii? Photo: TCA - Abu Dhabi Triathlon

"Doing the 100k bike leg in Abu Dhabi was really fun and entertaining. The race didn't go out of my head - I decided I'll head for another adventure this year, before focusing on my 2016 Olympics Rio campaign. I'm very happy, that WTC's Andrew Messick and Challenge's Felix Walchshöfer offered generous Wild Cards. I'm really honored" an excited Brownlee told Dnf-is-no-option.com.

Despite his early season success in Abu Dhabi, the recently by her majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a MBE (Most Excellent Order) awarded student is cautious. "Nutrition during short distance isn't a big deal, proper fuel during an 8 hour day is a total different game" expresses one of the bigger concerns Brownlee has. Ironman Hawaii's heat and humidity will add another notch to his October campaign. "Alistair is probably one of the greatest talents the sport has ever seen - both female and male" WTC's CEO Messick said. "We're very excited having him on Kailua-Kona on race day, wearing number 49." A new course record is always trending topic, when such a talent is dealing with Kona. Even if he never did this race before or managed to finish that distance. Only Belgian’s Luc van Lierde was able to succeed on his very first attempt.

Felix Walchshöfer, CEO Challenge Roth, has some other things to add. "With such a great talent, there is a chance going well below the magical 7:30 hour mark - if all conditions play nicely on race day. Alistair can have a shot at the world record right on his first attempt. The community is excited having him." Roth, famous for his fast rolling downhill sections on the bike, very well designed overall race course and hospitality has had indeed perfect conditions several times the last decade. Chrissie Wellington and Andreas Raelert both crushed the fastest times ever seen on the planet: 7:41:33 (Raelert) and 8:18:13 (Wellington) in 2011.

The 2013 long distance season could be one of the most interesting ever, maybe with some historic performances from a 24 year old young Brit out there in Hawaii'ian lava fields and German summer while enjoying his home stay with German families. Readers, what do you thing on #BrownleeKonaRoth in 2013?

Editor's note: This article was published originally on 1. April 2013 ;-)