Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 a predominately American affair
Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 was a predominately American affair.
With a week-end of Ironman 70.3 races at Aix-en-Provence in France and also in Marbella in Spain in addition to Challenge Family’s ‘Championship in Slovakia it is little wonder that Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 North American Championship was dominated by Americans as the cupboard was left bare of international Pro athletes for this race.
Even the tinsel to this race came crashing down when news broke that Olympic and world triathlon champions, Bermuda’s Flora Duffy had caught a mild bout of our friend ‘Mr Covid’ and had to withdraw from the race.
Whilst the Ironman Chattanooga lost some of its ‘choo choo’ it did not derail the battle of the North Atlantic Titians.
In the men’s race all three podium places went to Americans. Jason West took the win and $12,000 prize winner’s purse in a time of 3:37:15 with second place Matthew Hanson 57 seconds behind and Rudy Von Berg ousting Canandian Jackson Laundry to take third spot and a clean sweep for the Americans.
Perhaps the real winner of the day was 40-year-old Tim O’Donnell, the 2019 Kona runner-up, who was racing his first major event since suffering a heart attack at Challenge Miami last year. He put in a terrifically spirited performance to finish in sixth place. O’Donnell is a winner in every sense of the word. He dodged the bullet, lives to tell the tale and continues to do what he does best – compete.
Pro Men top six finishers
- 1. Jason West, USA, 3:37:15
- 2. Matt Hanson, USA, 3:38:12
- 3. Rudy Von Berg, USA, 3:39:53
- 4. Jackson Laundry, CAN, 3:40:21
- 5. Steven McKenna, USA, 3:42:32
- 6. Tim O’Donnell, USA, 3:42:59
In the women’s race it was the 37-year-old American Jackie Hering who took one of the biggest wins of her career finishing ahead of Canadian Paula Findaly with Britain’s Holly Lawrence taking third spot.
It was these three that took the bull by the horns and lead the charge on the bike section distancing themselves from the rest of the field. Onto the run and it was Hering who had the running legs and pulled away to take the lead and maintain it until the finish line winning in a time of 4:03:35 with Findaly coming in second some three minutes behind with Lawrence hanging on to take third spot.
Pro Women top six finishers
- 1. Jackie Hering, USA, 4:03:35
- 2. Paula Findlay, CAN, 4:06:16
- 3. Holly Lawrence, GBR, 4:09:23
- 4. Lesley Smith, USA, 4:13:57
- 5. Mirinda Carfrae, USA, 4:15:08
- 6. Danielle Lewis, USA, 4:15:34
Full results here:
