Gustav Iden caused a bang as an Ironman rookie. The 25-year-old Norwegian won the Ironman Florida (3.8km swim, 180km bike ride, 42.2km run) in Panama City in a super-fast 7:42:57 hours ahead of Canadian Lionel Sanders (7:48:50), who was tied with Iden in the marathon for a long time. Third place went to Sweden’s Robert Kallin (8:08:13), who was also among the top group on the bike. In the women’s race there was a US double victory with Heather Jackson (8:52:57) and Skye Moench (8:56:36). Behind them, Laura Zimmermann (9:08:01) made it onto the podium in third place with a strong marathon.
Already in the long swim start, the fastest Swede Robert Kallin of the day only came out of the water following 59:59 min, the two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion Gustav Iden was at the front. Already in the transition zone he made up for the few seconds behind and got on his time trial bike as the leader. The field sorted itself out following the first few kilometers and a four-man lead group with Iden, Kallin, Sanders and the Australian Camerontron emerged. After just 50 kilometers, the quartet had a five-minute lead over the pursuers led by the American Justin Metzler. Nothing should change in this constellation over the entire cycling distance. The four leaders stayed together at the front, while the rest were even half an hour behind in the second transition zone.
Running duel between Iden and Sanders
The podium was almost made following Cameron Wurf did not even start the marathon. The remaining trio became a duo in the first few kilometers following Kallin mightn’t keep up with the hellish pace of Iden and Sanders. The Norwegian Ironman rookie and the experienced Canadian ran side by side well past the half marathon mark before a small gap opened up for the first time. Sanders suddenly mightn’t keep up with Iden’s pace. The race was now decided within a few kilometers. By the time Iden tackled the final five kilometers, his lead had grown to four minutes. Two more minutes should be added to the finish. Gustav Iden triumphed in 7:42:57 ahead of Lionel Sanders (7:48:50) and the bravely fighting Robert Kallin (8:08:13).
In the women’s race, Sarissa de Vries from the Netherlands was the dominating athlete in the first six hours of racing. De Vries took the lead on the first few kilometers of cycling and quickly established an advantage over Imogen Simmonds, who oscillated between two and three minutes over the entire cycling distance. In the end, the Dutchwoman took a good two minutes ahead of the Swiss in the marathon. They were followed by a US trio of Jocelyn McCauley, Heather Jackson and Skye Moench, around six minutes behind. Ironman Hamburg winner Laura Zimmermann was even further behind. De Vries might dream of winning the Ironman up to the 10 km mark, when Simmonds took over at the front.
Simmonds surrenders victory, Zimmermann with a strong final
A few kilometers later, the Swiss had an unleashingly running Heather Jackson breathing down her neck. Before the 30 km mark, there was another and at the same time final change of leadership. Jackson took the lead with a high step frequency, while Simmonds, suffering from pain, briefly sat on the side of the road a little later. Moench passed, who now went into second place behind Jackson. The cards were reshuffled once more for third place following Simmonds was completely passed. On hand was Laura Zimmermann, who had previously overtaken McCauley, who was also stumbling, and was now able to celebrate another Ironman podium with third place.
