Lionel Sanders of Canada and Sarah Crowley of Australia won the $10,000 top prizes at the Multisport Festival ITU Long Distance World Championships in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.
Men
Sanders began his day in 8th place with a 4:11 deficit to swim leader Josh Amberger of Australia. A flat tire cost Sanders the best bike ride of the day, but even with a flat he rode a third-best 2:51:12 split for the 120 kilometer bike leg. Sanders arrived at T2 in third place, 6:26 behind leader Amberger, 2:42 behind Sylvain Sudrie of France and 1:05 ahead of Joe Gambles of Australia.
On his way to a race-best 1:45:34 split for the 30 kilometer run leg, Sanders passed Amberger for the lead in the final 10km and finished in 5:20:36 with a 1:33 margin of victory over the Australian (1:53:23 run split) and 5:47 ahead of 3rd-place Joe Gambles (1:50:14 run).
Sanders’ victory adds yet another highlight to a dominating 2017 season. Previously Sanders won 70.3s at Pucon, Buenos Aires, Oceanside and Mont Tremblant, plus a 2nd to a healthy Alistair Brownlee at St. George 70.3 and a win at Challenge – The Championship in Slovakia.
Women
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the 3km swim with a 39:28 split, which gave her a 3 seconds lead on Helle Frederiksen of Denmark, 5 seconds on Leanda Cave of Great Britain, 9 seconds on Camilla Pedersen of Denmark, 10 seconds on Rachel McBride of Canada, 3:27 on Heather Wurtele of Canada and 3:28 on Crowley.
After a women’s-fastest 3:09:24 split for the 120 kilometer bike leg, Crowley arrived in T2 2:08 behind race leader Frederiksen, 8 seconds ahead of Cave, 14 seconds ahead of Heather Wurtele, 17 seconds ahead of Pedersen and 3:36 ahead of Rachel McBride of Canada.
After 10 kilometers of the run, Crowley cut down Frederiksen’s lead to 1:33 while Heather Wurtele stood 3rd, 39 seconds later. About 10 kilometers later, Crowley passed Frederiksen for the lead. After her women’s-best 1:55:37 split for the 30 kilometer run, Crowley finished in 5:51:23 with a 3:41 margin of victory over Frederiksen (2:01:L52 run) and 4:28 over 3rd-place Wurtele, who closed with a 2:00:00 run.
Crowley’s ITU Long Distance World title adds to a stupendous breakthrough year that includes a women’s race record 8:47:58 winning time at the Ironman European Championship at Frankfurt and an 8:58:14 winning time at the Asian-Pacific Ironman Championship in Cairns, Australia.
ITU World Championship Multisport Festival
Long Course World Championships
Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
August 27, 2017
S 3km / B 120km / R 30km
Results
Men
1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 5:20:36 S 40:40 B 2:51:12 R 1:45:34
2. Joshua Amberger (AUS) 5:22:09 S 36:29 B 2:48:57 R 1:53:23
3. Joe Gambles (AUS) 5:26:23 S 40:02 B 2:52:55 R 1:50:14
4. Andy Potts (USA) 5:27:25 S 38:09 B 2:56:57 R 1:49:19
5. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 5:37:08 S 40:49 B 3:00:40 R 1:52:15
6. Drew Scott (USA) 5:32:19 S 39:54 S 39:54 B 2:53:11 R 1:56:22
7. Mark Buckingham (GBR) 5:38:48 S 38:15 B 3:02:02 R 1:55:30
8. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 5:40:56 S 1:04:32 B&R 4:36:24
9. Nathan Killam (CAN) 5:43:36 S 43:19 B 2:57:50 R 1:59:25
10. Chris Bagg (USA) 5:49:40 S 40:46 B 3:03:15 R 2:01:49
Women
1. Sarah Crowley (AUS) 5:51:23 S 42:56 B 3:09:24 R 1:55:37 R
2. Helle Frederiksen (DNK) 5:55:04 S 39:31 B 3:10:41 R 2:01:52
3. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 5:55:51 S 42:55 B 3:09:39 R 2:00:00
4. Kaisa Sali (FIN) 6:01:16 S 44:54 B 3:12;06 R 2:00:48
5. Leanda Cave (GBR) 6:04:44 S 39:33 B 3:12:55 R 2:08:24
6. Rachel McBride (CAN) 6:07:24 S 39:38 B 3:16:18 R 2:08:04
7. Camilla Pedersen (DNK) 6:07:46 S 39:37 B 3:13:00 R 2:11:45
8. Jen Annett (CAN) 6:10:44 S 45:23 B 3:12:28 R 2;09:40
9. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 6:13:01 S 45:22 B 3:14:08 R 2:10:24
10. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 6:14:46 S 39:28 B 3:16:32 R 2:15:23
