Mirinda Carfrae, Andy Potts Take Ironman 70.3 World Titles November 10, 2007 -- Argentina's Oscar Galindez in a nail-bitingly close duel to the line and Australian star Mirinda Carfrae broke Natascha Badmann's half-Ironman world best with a sizzling 4:07:25 to take the golds at the second Ford Ironman world championship 70.3 Saturday. Carfrae's relentless pace finally overcame early leader Julie Dibens of Great Britain, who ran out of gas with just three miles left in the run. When asked if this was her ultimate race, Carfrae said, ‘It must be. But it didn't feel fast. Out on the bike, it didn't feel like I was going that fast to win a world championship. It just feels like I won a race." Potts' supremely patient, perfectly paced race record 3:42:33 gave the 30-year-old Olympian, two-time International Triathlon Union World Cup winner, current Pan Am Games, Escape From Alcatraz and California Ironman 70.3 champ his first-ever world title. "I'm on cloud nine," said Potts. "We had a world-class field with top-notch three-sport athletes and I had to give everything I had. Hats off to Oscar! He really showed a lot of guts out there." From Mile 7 of the run, Potts stalked Galindez from a minute back until he made a move to Galindez's elbow at the top of the causeway 2.3 miles from the finish. Where a lesser competitor might have folded like a cheap suit, Galindez fought back and held his ground for the next two miles. "I was tired from pushing so hard to catch Oscar, but I didn't let up the pressure. I didn't slow down" said Potts. "When the bell rang, Oscar raised his level one more time." Potts closed with a race-best 1:11:33 half-marathon run, which left him four seconds ahead of the Argentinean Olympian and 1995 ITU duathlon world champion. Galindez took the lead from new Ironman world championship 70.3 bike record holder Bjorn Andersson (1:59:37) at Mile 4 of the run and held off the onrushing Potts until the American unleashed a killer sprint with 200 yards to go. "The finish was second place, but the way I feel, it was like first place," said Galindez. "Because we were so close for so long, for me is like a victory." Andrew Johns of Great Britain, the 2002 ITU Olympic-distance world championship third-place finisher, garnered another Worlds bronze. After accompanying Potts on much of his come-from-behind run, Johns fell off near the end and came in 34 seconds behind Galindez in third place. The men While Potts came out of the water first in 22:57, supercyclists David Thompson (23:35) and Andersson of Sweden (23:18) came out close enough to blow past Potts by Mile 10 of the bike. While the women pros were given a 10-minute head start, it was a remarkable sight to see Julie Dibens remaining out front to Mile 35 of the bike as she carved out a seven-minute lead with her 2:13 ride. While Andersson was chasing hard, St. Paul, Minnesota, native Thompson rode out front for nearly 30 miles. While the Swede was in the routine of passing, slowing slightly, then getting repassed by the Life Time Fitness bike record holder, the hard-working Thompson became the victim of a curious four-minute stand-down drafting call and eventually withdrew. While Andersson continued to post a dazzling 1:59:37 bike and started the run with a two minute lead, the overall contenders lined up for a fight for the win. Young New Zealander Terenzo Bozzone flew into the chase run with Galindez, while Johns, Craig Alexander and Potts trailed closely. While Alexander, suffering the effects of his rousing second-place finish at Kona three weeks prior, was the first to fall back, Potts and Johns took off. Galindez and Bozzone made quick work of Andersson, who was falling back fast on his way to a 1:32:51 run and a 23rd-place finish, and carved out a solid 90-second lead over the dangerous Potts-Johns duo. By the end of the first 6.5-mile lap of the run, Bozzone fell off dramatically, but Potts was getting discouraged. "It was a long day and a long run," said Potts "I kept getting splits (to Galindez), 'One minute!' 'One-oh-five!' and 'One- ten!' I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we've been at this for eight miles and I'm not making up any ground!' Then I heard '45 seconds!' It was like a switch turned on after that. I thought, 'Game on!' " Potts turned to Johns and said ‘"AJ, let's catch him!'" Unfortunately for the Brit, Johns had no more oomph in his tank and dropped back. Then it was mano a mano with the Argentine. "I didn't want to wake up the next day and say to myself, ' didn't give it my best shot,'" said Potts. "I knew I was taking a chance." Still, while on the knife edge, Potts remained conscious of the delicate balance he needed to maintain to pull this off. "It's a half-marathon," said Potts. "You can make a big mistake if you hear '20 seconds' and answer the call right then. I could probably make up 20 seconds in a mile but lose everything if I kicked too early. I told myself ‘Be patient. Be patient.' That was my mantra." As they came to the end, Galindez thought, "I have a good sprint, too. But Andy is a very strong sprinter. He is tall (6-foot-2-inches) and has very long legs. He is perfect for sprint. So today, Andy was the best." "We came to the roundabout about 250 yards from the finish and Oscar was on my right on the inside of a right turn," said Potts. "Then we turned left a little and came to the finish chute. I have a lot of faith in my finish and it worked today." Alexander, after falling back, found some renewed strength at the end of the run and closed fast with a 1:13:04 run to take fourth, one minute back of Johns. "I don't think I realized how much Ironman Hawaii took out of me," said Alexander. The women Dibens' race-best 24:45 swim in the Gulf of Mexico and race-best, Badmannesque 2:13:16 bike on Clearwater's roads left the recently crowned XTERRA world champion seven minutes ahead of Carfrae and a pack of contenders including defending champion Samantha McGlone of Canada. While Carfrae was running a flat-out 1:18:40 half marathon, Dibens hung on to a five-minute lead starting the final lap of the run. When Dibens unraveled, she fell from first to fourth just as an Ironman Hawaii-weary McGlone was using a rejuvenated 1:20:51 run to advance from seventh to second, 4:04 behind Carfrae, with Leanda Cave of Great Britain, another contender feeling the aftereffect of Ironman Hawaii, a minute further back in third place. Carfrae, who came into this race last year fighting niggling injuries and sub-prime training to finish third, was primed and strong this year. Although Carfrae weathered a troubling virus just three weeks out, it was nothing compared to the Ironman exhaustion afflicting defending champ McGlone, last year's runner-up Bentley and Cave, who finished eighth at Kona. More importantly, said Carfrae, "I'm a lot smarter with my training and scheduling. I've forgotten about the ITU racing and the Olympics and I'm stronger for it." Carfrae's coach, Siri Lindley, said, "She's worked hard for this and she deserves it. Mirinda Carfrae She went out with a lot of heart and she was willing to make it hurt and do whatever it took to win. I think overall she is a better athlete this year and it's a natural progression when you dedicate your life to a certain goal." As for McGlone and Cave, both had second thoughts about racing so soon after the Iron wars in Kona. "Two weeks ago I was looking for reasons not to come," said Cave. "I was even trying to get (World Triathlon Corporation‘s) Greg Welch to DQ me because I wasn't going to make the pro briefing because I had a dental appointment. Everyone told me, ‘Give it another week.'" And sure enough, Cave had some really good training the last few days. McGlone said "I didn't even want to come here a week ago, but everything was booked and it's starting to snow in Colorado and I thought I might as well come down and spend a week on the beach." McGlone looked wan starting the run and waved off coach Cliff English when he was giving her splits after the first lap when she was still in seventh place. "I was ready to pull her if she looked like she was hurting," said English. "I had some hip and some IT band problems, but things started feeling stronger near the end," said McGlone. "Somehow I held it together. I thank the Ironman - the one thing it does is it makes you tough as hell." Back to Articles Page

Site by Zone 5 Design