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Australia’s Chris McCormack, a three-time champion at the Quelle Challenge Roth, will return to defend his title in 2007 and will serve as an ambassador for the Challenge organization worldwide, race organizers announced. McCormack will return to the triathlon-mad Franconian hamlet in Germany to race for the next two years.
McCormack, who won his third consecutive Quelle Challenge Roth in July, said he could not resist the opportunity to return to Roth and spread the word about an event—and a race team—that has become a major part of his career since he first toed the line in 2003.
“Roth is the most beautiful race in the world,” he said. “There is no comparison. Triathlon is a young sport, and events like Roth stand for something. They helped shape the sport of today because events like Roth have stood the test of time and grown triathlon as a global sport that we all enjoy today.”
McCormack has twice gone under the coveted eight-hour barrier in Roth, and this year defeated reigning Kona champion Faris Al-Sultan and rising Kiwi star Kieran Doe in just a tick over that—8:00:52—after overcoming a flat tire on the bike and overhauling both Doe and Al-Sultan on the run.
McCormack, who remembers watching the race on television when he was a young athlete, said he’s committed to continuing the triathlon legend that began in Roth in 1984.
“Events like Roth have a history and thus an ability to reflect on a past. Only a handful of events in our sport remain that have this,” he said. “It is not something you can develop overnight because it can only come with time. If you think of it in terms of tennis, Roth is like the Wimbledon of our sport. It was the first Ironman race to arrive in Europe and from this race a breed of dominant European athletes flourished. Athletes like Wolfgang Dittrich, Jürgen Zäck, Thomas Hellriegel and Lothar Leder—just to name the Germans—and Pauli Kiuru, Rob Barel and Luc van Lierde are some of the superstars of our sport who were nurtured by this event. Without Roth they would never have emerged because they would never have had a testing ground at home to focus their energies on.”
As ambassador to the Challenge brand, McCormack will wear the logo on his race kit and will contribute a regular training column on the website, as well as representing the organization at its partner races.
“To be a multiple winner of Europe’s most recognizable race is humbling and very satisfying, and I am very proud of my successes at this event,” McCormack said. “It feels great now to represent a race that has given me so much and been so open with me. I am truly honored to work alongside so many passionate people and to be involved with an event that has such meaning in this sport.”
McCormack, who trained at university as an accountant and briefly worked in that field before embarking on his professional triathlon career, is now studying law and said he is looking forward to helping develop the Challenge brand worldwide. The first Challenge race outside Roth will be staged in New Zealand on January 20, 2007.
“I am honored to share my expertise with the Challenge series and help develop more races like Roth around the world. It is only the sport that will benefit from this and this excites me,” McCormack said. “As the ambassador for the Challenge series this is what I hope to help them achieve. They are already so successful at what they do, but I can approach things from a completely different sphere and I think together we can build some of the greatest triathlon events in the world with time. It is really exciting, and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”
“We are thrilled to be able to join with Chris McCormack on what we hope will be a long partnership,” said race director Felix Walchshöfer. “Macca has been a vital part of the Quelle Challenge Roth’s growth as an independent race, and his energy and passion for Roth is a great reflection of the passion the people of Roth have for their race and the athletes who come here each year.”
Roth, the former Ironman Europe, celebrated its fifth anniversary as an independent race with its July running and a field of 2,700 individual athletes and 1,700 relay teams. Race day will be Sunday, June 24, 2007. To learn more, visit the race website at www.challenge-roth.com.
Quelle Challenge Roth’s sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, PRO4, Newline, Nürnberger Nachrichten (Nürnberg Newspapers), Bayrische Versicherungskammer, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Sparkasse Mittelfranken-Süd, Arndt, Mavic, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpoltstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Guttenberger & Partner, and Spedition Heinloth.
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