Courtney Atkinson had a little more left in the tank, enough to edge fellow Australian Dan Wilson in a thrilling finish line sprint and Caroline Steffen of Switzerland left all her rivals in the dust with a race-best run to win the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast Sunday.
On the men’s side, it was an affirmation of the takeover of the 70.3 series by ITU short course speedsters. Two-time Aussie Olympian Atkinson, with just a few 70.3s under his belt, duked it out with Wilson, a Glasgow Commonwealth Games competitor in his very first Ironman 70.3 race, and the duo ran away from the field.
In the women’s race, Ironman maestra Caroline Steffen managed to hold off long-time Olympic distance veteran Radka Vodickova.
Pro Men
The men’s race began with a high-speed drag race in the water led by Atkinson, Wilson and Pete Jacobs emerging first in identical 23:41 times, followed closely by Brad Kahlefeldt and Clayton Fettell (23:47), Casey Munro (23:49), Luke Bell (23:56), Michael Fox (23:50) and Luke Bell (23:55).
When the 56-mile bike leg was over, the leaders might as well have been in a draft-legal ITU race as the first seven men arrived in T2 within 7 seconds of one another with splits that varied no more than 15 seconds.
Atkinson and Jacobs led in identical 2:32:43 elapsed times, followed by Fettell (-2 seconds). Wilson (-3 seconds), Kahlefeldt (-3 seconds), Munro (-4 seconds), and Bell (-7 seconds).
Halfway through the run, Kahlefeldt Wilson and Atkinson ran together while Jacobs fell 50 seconds back. Two-thirds through the run, Atkinson and Wilson broke free and sped elbow-to-elbow the rest of the way.
At the finish chute, Atkinson surged and found the line a half a length ahead of Wilson -- both men recorded in identical 3:45:36 times. Wilson’s 1:12:01 run split was 7 seconds faster than Atkinson’s but faster transitions gave Atkinson the win.
“I enjoyed today because it was a really cool tactical race,” said Atkinson. “We were surging constantly over the last 3 kilometers. I’ve been doing a lot of running and getting my speed back.”
“I had a great time out there today,” said Wilson. “I’ll definitely be back on the start line for more 70.3 races.”
Pete Jacobs revived on the run and his 3rd-best 1:14:19 split brought him past Kahlefeldt (1:17:47 run) to take the final spot on the podium – 2:12 behind the 1-2 finishers and 3:35 ahead of 4th place Kahlefeldt.
Pro Women
After a season with Chris McCormack as her coach, Caroline Steffen seems to be hitting her stride in a middle distance speed test with a month to go before Kona. Radka Vodickova, Steffen’s most serious rival on the day, seems to be taking to the 70.3 distance after taking a 6th place last weekend at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Mt. Tremblant.
Vodickova led the swim in 25:42, 23 seconds ahead of Steffen and 1:20 up on Gina Crawford of New Zealand.
Steffen made up all but 2 seconds of her deficit to Vodickova with a race-best 2:24:42 bike split, as Crawford lagged 1:46 after a 3rd-fastest women’s bike split of 2:25:11.
Steffen quickly made up the 2 seconds and set out alone on a race-best 1:18:40 run that brought her to the finish in 4:12:06 with a 4:15 margin on Vodickova (1:23:02 run) and 7:23 on 3rd-place finisher Crawford (1:24:02 run).
Steffen said she had a home court advantage because her training is based in the Sunshine Coast. “It’s a home race and to be able to race and win in front of all my friends is just crazy,” said Steffen. “I am really happy.”
Vodickova said she was thrilled to stay within range of Steffen, an Ironman and Ironman 70.3 star. “I was able to try and stay with Caroline, and she is strong, so that makes me happy,” said Vodickova. “I am really pleased to make the podium here today.”
Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast
Mooloolaba, Australia
September 14, 2014
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. /R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 3:45:36
2. Dan Wilson(AUS) 3:45:36
3. Peter Jacobs (AUS) 3:47:48
4. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 3:51:23
5. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:53:26
Pro Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:12:06
2. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:16:21
3. Gina Crawford (NZL) 4:19:29
4. Rebecca Preston (AUS) 4:28:48
5. Julia Grant (NZL) 4:28:59
