Posted: October 14, 2007

Triathlon: Great Britain’s Chrissie Wellington Wins World Ironman Championships with Incredible Debut in Hawaii

Having won the ITU World Age Group (amateur) Triathlon Championships over the standard distance in Switzerland in September 2006, Chrissie Wellington started 2007 as a professional triathlete, giving up her job in London to focus on training full time. She will end 2007 as Britain’s first ever World Ironman Champion, a remarkable feat, deemed to be a near impossible task for any athlete racing as a rookie at their first Ironman World Championships. Wellington started her triathlon years having worked on social projects in Nepal, where she would ride a mountain bike around the outlying mountain villages at 5000m, leaving male coworkers in her wake. When she went to New Zealand on holiday she completed the Cross New Zealand Challenge which involved cycling, swimming and running. From then on her mind was set on triathlon, and when she returned to the UK she started training for the World Age Group Triathlon Championships. Wellington had qualified late for the prestigious Ironman World Championships on the island of Kona, Hawaii, having won the Ironman Korea event just seven weeks before. Korea had been her first Ironman, and although she had won by over half an hour against an average field, nobody could have predicted that she would win in Kona against much tougher and experienced opposition. Her race started well, exiting the 2.4 mile swim in the main pack of athletes, whilst ITU World Long Distance Champion, Leanda Cave from Louth, was one of the first out of the water and started to build a lead on the 112 mile bike stage. Further back it was Wellington who made the headway though as she climbed into the top three for the first time by mile 95, and then took the lead from Cave just five miles later. Starting the final discipline, a gruelling 26.2 mile marathon, Wellington held a two minute lead over American favourite Dede Griesbauer, but continued to increase her advantage in the oppressive conditions. By mile 17 Wellington’s lead was up to seven minutes, and although the chasing athletes had started to close, an incredible sub-three hour run split gave her the win in a time of 9:14:45 ahead of Samantha McGlone, the 2006 World Half Ironman World Champion, from Canada. “It’s a dream come true,” Wellington said just after crossing the line. “I saw Sam[antha McGlone] and I knew I needed to just keep pushing hard. Some people told me I had a chance, but I didn’t really believe I could do it. I was praying I could hold on for the run.” Ford Ironman World Championships Women Results: 1. Chrissie Wellington, Great Britain 9:08:45 2. Samantha McGlone, Canada 9:14:04 3. Kate Major, Australia 9:19:13 4. Joanna Lawn, New Zealand 9:26:47 5. Rebecca Preston, Australia 9:26:55 - 8. Leanda Gave, Great Britain 9:36:10 In the men’s race, Australia’s Nick McCormack finally overcame years of disappointment to register his first Ironman World Championship victory in a time of 8:15:34 ahead of compatriot Craig Alexander and Denmark’s Torbjorn Sindballe. Britain’s first male finisher was Ironman UK winner, Scotland’s Scott Neyedli in 33rd. Chrissie Wellington Fact Box: Date of Birth: 18 February 1977 Born: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Lives: Feltwell, Norfolk Height: 5’9” Weight: 60kg Nickname: Muppet 2007 Results: 1st Ford Ironman World Championships, Hawaii 1st Ironman Korea 1st Alpe D’Huez Triathlon, France 1st Zurich Triathlon, Switzerland 1st Subic Bay Asian Cup Triathlon, Philippines 2nd Mekong River Asian Cup Triathlon, Thailand 5th Lorient ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, France About British Triathlon British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK’s fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its youth programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 500 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year including the London Triathlon, arguably the largest triathlon event in the World and the ITU World Cup race in Salford, one of the world’s leading international races. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest