World Triathlon Series star Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway and 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Holly Lawrence of Great Britain won the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship in Bahrain.

Men

After a blazing fast bike splits led by Casper Stornes’ 1:51:56, Blummenfelt arrived in T2 in a closely contested pack of five men also including Daniel Baekkegard of Denmark, Ben Kanute of the U.S. and Philip Graves of Great Britain.

After 4 kilometers of the run, Blummenfelt seized a 40 seconds lead on Baekkegard, 45 seconds on Stornes, 1:15 on Kanute, with Graves 2:55 arrears.

After 7 kilometers, Blummenfelt extended his lead to over a minute on Baekkegard and Stornes.
After 14.5k, rocketed ahead by 2 minutes on Baekkegard and 3 minutes on Stornes.

After a sizzling fast 1:07:00 half marathon, Blummenfelt finished in 3:25:21 with a 3:55 margin of victory over Baekkegard (1:10:44 run split) and 7:45 over 3rd place Stornes (1:14:26 run). Blummenfelt’s 3:25:21 time is the fastest recorded at the 70.3 distance and breaks his old record at the distance set last year at Bahrain by 3:43.

Prior to this race, Blummenfelt ’s career highlights include a 2nd overall in the WTS series, a win last year at Bahrain 70.3 in 3:29:04, several top 3 finishes at the Super League Triathlon and 13th in the 2016 Olympics. Rising Danish star Baekkegard this year won Ironman Austria and Ironman 70.3 Finland and took 15th at the Ironman World Championship. Stornes burst into prominence on the international stage with a win at the 2018 WTS Bermuda. In addition he took 3rd at this race last year and second at the 2019 Tokyo Olympic qualifying event.

Women

Holly Lawrence completed a three-peat with her third straight victory at Ironman 70.3 Bahrain.

Lucy Hall of Great Britain led the swim in 23:06 which gave her am 8 seconds lead on Pamella Oliveira of Brazil, 10 seconds on Lawrence, 12 seconds on WTS star Jodie Stimpson of Great Britain and over a minute on India Lee of Great Britain.

By 30 kilometers of the bike leg (which surprisingly for a desert course has 300 meters of climbing), Lawrence and Stimpson rode together with a 20 seconds lead on Oliveira and Hall with Lisa Norden of Sweden 2 minutes back in 7th place. After 40k, Oliveira took a brief lead on Lawrence, followed by Hall and Stimpson with Norden 90 seconds back.

After 50k, Lawrence was back in front with Hall, Oliveira and Stimpson riding close behind.

With a late surge on her way to a women’s second-best 2:02:42 bike split, India Lee of Great Britain led into T2 followed closely by Lawrence (2:04:13 bike split) and Lisa Norden of Sweden, fresh off the recent Cycling Time Trial World Championship, who posted a women’s-best 2:01:30 bike split. Next in were Stimpson, Hall, Oliveira and Claire Hann (2:02:43 split) all within 15 seconds of the leader.

After 4 kilometers of the run, Lawrence and Stimpson running stride for stride at the lead with Hann, Hall and India Lee running 3rd through 5th, 75 seconds arrears.

After10k, Lawrence and Stimpson continued their battle at the lead, but shortly thereafter Lawrence showed her middle distance strength and opened a small gap. After 16k of the run, Lawrence opened a 25 seconds gap on Stimpson. After a women’s-fastest 1:21:35, Lawrence finished in 3:52:51 with a 2:38 margin of victory over Stimpson (1:23:53 run split) and 3 minutes flat over Hann (1:23:58 run split).

The Legends Relay Team

A highly touted The Legends Relay Team consisting of endurance swimmer Chloe McCardel, Tour de France veteran Mark Cavendish and multiple Olympic champion runner Mo Farah was handily beaten by solo Pro Men’s winner Kristian Blummenfelt. The Legends finished in 3:31:49 (swim 25:50 – Bike 1:54:46 – Run 1:07:10) and Blummenfelt finished in 3:25:21 – (Swim 22:26 – Bike 1:52:03 – Run 1:07:00).

Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship
Bahrain
December 7, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 3:25:21 S 2:26 T1 1:45 B 1:52:03 T2 2:09 R 1:07:00
2. Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) 3:29:16 S 22:24 T1 2:06 B 1:52:01 T2 2:04 R 1:10:44
3. Casper Stornes (NOR) 3:33:06 S 22:30 T1 1:59 B 1:51:56 T2 2:18 R 1:14:26
4. Mark Buckingham (GBR) 3:35:44 S 23:09 T1 1:46 B 1:55:46 T2 2:24 R 1:12:41
5. Aleksey Kalistratov (RUS) 3:37:15 S 23:31 T1 2:12 B 1:56:13 T2 2:01 R 1:13:19
6. Ben Kanute (USA) 3:37:58 S 22:20 T1 1:46 B 1:52:20 T2 2:01 R 1:19:33
7. Marcus Herbst (GER) 3:38:05 S 25:00 T1 1:53 B 1:52:36 T2 2:10 R 1:16:28
8. Lukás Kocar (CZE) 3:38:02 S 23:37 T1 1:49 B 1:56:30 T2 2:28 R 1:14:10

Women

1. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 3:52:51 S 23:16 T1 1:50 B 2:04:13 T2 1:58 R 1:21:35
2. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 3:55:29 S 23:18 T1 1:50 B 2:04:15 T2 2:14 R 1:23:53
3. Claire Hann (GBR) 3:55:51 S 24:44 T1 2:04 B 2:02:43 T2 2:24 R 1:23:58
4. Lucy Hall (GBR) 3:59:40 S 23:06 T1 1:58 B 2:04:19 T2 2:15 R 1:28:05
5. Pamella Oliveira (BRA) 4:00:11 S 23:14 T1 1:59 B 2:04:11 T2 2:29 R 1:28:19
6. India Lee (GBR) 4:02:20 S 24:41 T1 1:55 B 2:02:42 T2 2:26 R 1:30:37
7. Lisa Norden (SWE) 4:05:01 S 25:50 T1 2:01 B 2:01:30 T2 2:46 R 1:32:57
8. Frankie Sanjana (GBR) 4:11:18 S 30:01 T1 2L18 B 2:05:02 T2 2:43 R 1:31:16