The New Wave Hits Ironman Hawaii 2006-2008
Written by: Timothy Carlson
Added: Mon Feb 02 2009
Timothy Carlson’s pictures chronicle the clash of generations in part 3 of Ironman Hawaii Photo Galleries of the winners, movers and shakers 2006-2008.
An Old School revolutionary prevailed among the women in 2006 as Michellie Jones, the 1992-1993 ITU short course world champ, upended Natascha Badmann’s reign. Jones topped Badmann 54 to 1:06 on the swim, gave back 7 minutes on the bike, then found her 3:13 marathon good enough to top gastrointestinally challenged Badmann’s 3:27:54 run. That same year, Normann Stadler made sure nobody thought his 2004 It’s-About-the-Bike 2004 win was a flash in the pan. Stadler’s record-smashing 4:18:23 bike gave the Normannator 10 minutes on rival Macca, just enough to hold on for a 71-second margin of victory. But 2007 was quite another story. Michellie Jones dropped out when a pre-race ear infection made it impossible to continue and a very fit, 40-plus Natascha Badmann was denied a chance to defend against an onslaught from the new guard due to a bad crash on the bike. That left Kona 2007 to a duel between well-known rookie Sam McGlone and unknown dark horse Chrissie Wellington, who had been a pro for all of eight months. Wellington won, the most shocking rookie debut since Luc Van Lierde. Mirroring the dropout rate of best women, 2005 men’s champ Faris Al-Sultan, 2004 and 2006 champ Normann Stadler and many other Germans were felled by gastro woes. When the dust had cleared, McCormack fulfilled a career-long dream to take the win by 3:30 over Kona rookie, consummate professional, Craig Alexander. In 2008, overdog Chrissie W backed up her Kona debut with a repeat, while Macca dropped out with cable troubles and Crowie well and truly earned the crown he inherited with a great 2:45 run.
An Old School revolutionary prevailed among the women in 2006 as Michellie Jones, the 1992-1993 ITU short course world champ, upended Natascha Badmann’s reign. Jones topped Badmann 54 to 1:06 on the swim, gave back 7 minutes on the bike, then found her 3:13 marathon good enough to top gastrointestinally challenged Badmann’s 3:27:54 run. That same year, Normann Stadler made sure nobody thought his 2004 It’s-About-the-Bike 2004 win was a flash in the pan. Stadler’s record-smashing 4:18:23 bike gave the Normannator 10 minutes on rival Macca, just enough to hold on for a 71-second margin of victory. But 2007 was quite another story. Michellie Jones dropped out when a pre-race ear infection made it impossible to continue and a very fit, 40-plus Natascha Badmann was denied a chance to defend against an onslaught from the new guard due to a bad crash on the bike. That left Kona 2007 to a duel between well-known rookie Sam McGlone and unknown dark horse Chrissie Wellington, who had been a pro for all of eight months. Wellington won, the most shocking rookie debut since Luc Van Lierde. Mirroring the dropout rate of best women, 2005 men’s champ Faris Al-Sultan, 2004 and 2006 champ Normann Stadler and many other Germans were felled by gastro woes. When the dust had cleared, McCormack fulfilled a career-long dream to take the win by 3:30 over Kona rookie, consummate professional, Craig Alexander. In 2008, overdog Chrissie W backed up her Kona debut with a repeat, while Macca dropped out with cable troubles and Crowie well and truly earned the crown he inherited with a great 2:45 run.
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