Did you know? 16 facts from the 2018 Ironman World Championships

By : LIANNEWSKGABAR
March 13, 2021
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Did you know? 16 facts from the 2018 Ironman World Championships

1. 1st male overall was Patrick Lange (GER) in a time of 7:52:39, who broke his own course best set in 2017 of 8:01:40.

2. 1st female overall was Daniela Ryf (SUI) in a time of 8:26:16: swim 57:26 (struggled with a jelly fish sting), bike 4:26:07 and run 2:57:05, breaking her own course best set in 2016 of 8:46:46.

3. The fastest male swimmer was age-grouper Jan Sibbersen in a time of 46:29, breaking the previous men’s record in Kona of 46:41 that had stood for 20 years, held by Lars Jorgensen. Jan’s bike split was 5:12:51, his run 4:26:24, for a total time of 10:37:33.

4. The fastest female swimmer was GB’s Lucy Charles in a time of 48:13. She averaged 1:15mins per 100m and in doing so set a new female course record, beating Jodi Jackson’s 1991 record of 48:43. She also finished in the overall top-10 fastest elite swim times of the day.

5. Fastest male bike split of the day was set by Cameron Wurf (AUS), a former pro cyclist and rower turned Ironman competitor. He improved his Kona record to 4:09:06 (26.98mph) from the 4:12:54 he set in 2017. His other splits were: swim 50:51; run 3:06:18, for a total time of 8:10:32.

6. Fastest female bike split of the day was set by Daniela Ryf in 4:26:07 (25:39mph), another new Kona record. The previous best time was 4:44:19, set by former time-trial specialist Karin Thürig in 2001.

7. Fastest male marathon run leg of the day came courtesy of Patrick Lange with a 2:41:32.

8. Fastest female marathon run leg of the day was set by Anne Haug 02:55:20.

9. For the first time in Kona history, the 8hr barrier was broken! Twice! First by Lange (7:52:39) and then by runner-up Bart Aernouts (BEL) in 7:56:41. His splits were: swim 54:07; bike 4:12:26; run 2:45:42.

10. Daniela Ryf came 25th overall beating 21 male pros; Lucy Charles came 35th overall.

11. Another Kona first saw the men’s winner propose to his girlfriend after crossing the finish line. Within a minute of finishing, Lange got down on one knee and proposed to Julia Hoffmann – she said yes!

12. Kyle and Brent Pease became the first push-assisted team of brothers to cross the finish line, and only the second pair in that category to complete the race. For the swim, Brent towed his brother in a boat, then completed the bike leg in a specially adapted bike before running with his brother in a specially adapted running chair. The last team to do so was father Dick and son Rick Hoyt in 1999. The Peases finished in a time of 14:29hrs.

13. GB’s Liz McTernan became only the second female wheelchair participant to complete Kona, and now holds the course record of 14:21:12. McTernan competed in the ‘Physically Challenged’ or PC Division, using a hand bike for 180km and a racing wheelchair for the marathon.