Norwegian Olympic gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt on Sunday became the first man to go sub-seven hours in an iron-distance triathlon, while Briton Kat Mathews went sub-eight to rewrite the history books at the Sub 7/Sub 8 event in Brandenburg, Germany.
The event allowed the triathletes to use pacemakers in all three disciplines — a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42km run — and Blummenfelt finished with an astonishing time of 6 hours, 44 minutes, 25 seconds.
His British rival, Joe Skipper, who took on the challenge on a week’s notice after twice-Olympic champ Alister Brownlee pulled out with an injury, also finished in less than seven hours (6:47:36).
Photo: AP
“It was full gas from the gun and I almost went down there early on the bike. That got my heart rate up,” Blummenfelt said.
“And it was a tough day... It was brutal just to stay on the wheel to these guys — and also a massive thanks to Joe and his team for the tough battle,” he added.
WOMEN’S TRIATHLON
Earlier, British army captain Matthews benefited from 10 pacemakers and became the first woman to finish in less than eight hours, clocking 7:31:36.
“I’m feeling a whole load of emotions, but the main one is gratitude for the whole team around me. Honestly, of all the triathlons of the whole world, this is about the team,” she said.
“I felt like I was letting them down all day. I was hitting the limit and I thought I was going to lose it, but the support on the sideline gave me the motivation to push on,” Matthews said.
The times recorded will not be considered world records as the event format was designed to break the sub-seven and sub-eight time barriers.
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