Largely on the strength of his near-course record 4:01:50 bike split and the day’s third-best 2:50:29 marathon, Chris Leiferman held off the sizzling 2:41:57 run by fellow U.S. star Matt Hanson to take the men’s crown at Ironman Florida in a time of 7:52:44. Coming off a narrow win over South African Bradley Weiss at the Great Floridian middle distance last month, Leiferman topped Hanson by 2:18.
Thanks to a women's-fastest 58:57 swim, third-best 4:36:15 bike split and women’s-swiftest 2:58:29 marathon, Great Britain’s Katrina Matthews finished in 8:40:50 and prevailed by 5:45 in a duel with Skye Moench of the U.S. Matthews, who debuted as a pro in 2019, topped her 8:53:58 personal best set during a 4th overall at the 2019 Ironman Western Australia by 13:08.
But despite all the fast racing up front what captured the interest and hearts of folks from around the world was 21-year old Floridian Chris Nikic who became the first person with Down Syndrome to finish a full distance Ironman event. Nikic finished in 16:46:09, and has been certified as a record holder in Guinness World Records.
Men
Leiferman began his day with a 10th-best 55:17 split which put him 1:29 behind swim leader Brent McMahon of Canada, 38 seconds behind Andreas Dreitz of Germany and Cody Beals of Canada, one second behind Matt Russell of the U.S. and seconds ahead of his toughest rival on the day, fellow American Matt Hanson.
On the pool table-flat, super-fast terrain of panhandle Florida, Leiferman took off like a rocket on his way to a race-best 4:01:50 bike split – 36 seconds shy of Andrew Starykowicz’s 2019 course record – that brought him into T2 with a 59 seconds lead on Dreitz, 2:49 on Russell, 6:21 on Sam Long of Boulder, 10:28 on Hanson, 10:41 on McMahon and 10:42 on Canadian Cody Beals.
Facing a daunting 10:28 deficit, Hanson went WFO on his way to a race best 2:41:57 split – 8:32 better than Leiferman – but fell 2:18 short of the win. Sam Long of Boulder ran a second-best 2:45:40 to finish 3rd, 31 seconds behind Hanson.
Women
Matthews led the pro women’s swim wave with a 58:57 split that gave her a one second lead on Meredith Kessler of the U.S., 4 seconds on Kelsey Withrow, and 2:45 on Skye Moench.
Moench went to work on the bike leg, notching a women’s 2nd-best 4:33:44 bike split that brought her to T2 within 14 seconds of Matthews and 3:04 behind Ruth Astle. Meredith Kessler rode 4:44:27 which put her 8:24 behind the leader.
Once they started the run, Matthews left the women’s field in her dust as her 2:58:29 marathon led her to the finish in 8:40:50 with a 5:45 margin of victory over Moench (3:03:50 run) and 18:11 over third place Kessler (3:08:08 run).
Ironman Florida
Panama City Beach, Florida
November 7, 2020
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Men
1. Chris Leiferman (USA) S 54:40 T1 3:12 B 4:01:50 T2 2:35 R 2:50:29 TOT 7:52:44
2. Matt Hanson (USA) S 55:17 T1 3:29 B 4:11:24 T2 2:57 R 2:41:57 TOT 7:55:02
3. Sam Long (USA) S 55:31 T1 3:12 B 4:07:20 T2 3:51 R 2:45:40 TOT 7:55:33
4. Andreas Dreitz (GER) S 54:02 T1 3:43 B 4:02:57 T2 3:13 R 2:52:58 TOT 7:56:51
5. Cody Beals (CAN) S 54:02 T1 3:43 B 4:12:53 T2 2:55 R 2:46:24 TOT 7:59:55
6. Matt Russell (USA) S 54:39 T1 3:27 B 4:04:25 T2 4:22 R 3:00:44 TOT 8:07:35
7. Pedro Gomes (POR) S 54:06 T1 3:38 B 4:18:25 T2 3:27 R 2:54:15 TOT 8:13:50
8. Brent McMahon (CAN) S 53:11 T1 3:20 B 4:14:01 T2 2:59 R 3:00:52 TOT 8:14:22
9. David Plese (BAH) S 55:27 T1 3:47 B 4:16:48 T2 3:48 R 3:03:06 TOT 8:22:54
10. Kevin Portman (USA) S 1:01:09 T1 3:43 B 4:16:38 T2 3:17 R 3:06:37 TOT 8:31:21
Women
1. Katrina Matthews (GBR) S 58:57 T1 3:56 B 4:36:15 T23 3:14 R 2:58:29 TOT 8:40:50
2. Skye Moench (USA) S 1:01:42 T1 3:57 B 4:33:44 T2 3:25 R 3:03:50 TOT 8:46:35
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) S 58:59 T1 4:07 B 4:44:27 T2 3:22 R 3:08:08 TOT 8:59:01
4. Ruth Astle (GBR) S 1:05:37 T1 4:22 B 4:32:13 T2 3:41 R 3:18:12 TOT 9:04:03
5. Fiona Moriarty (IRL) S 1:1`0:32 T1 4:34 B 4:45:02 T2 4:32 R 3:17:12 TOT 9:21:51
6. Lenny Ramsey (USA) S 1:10:44 T1 5:18 B 4:56:30 T2 3:52 R 3:12:L36 TOT 9:28:58
7. Natasha Van Der Merwe (RSA) S 1:05:39 T1 4:07 B 4:55:16 T2 4:12 R 3:20:08 TOT 9:29:20
8. Palmira Alvarez (MEX) S 1:10:38 T1 5:27 B 4:53:17 T2 4:30 R 3:20:54 TOT 9:34:44
9. Jessica Jones (USA) S 1:05:02 T1 7:21 B 4:57:13 T2 4:08 R 3:26:55 TOT 9:40:39
10. Sarah Bishop (USA) S 1:13:40 T1 4:23 B 5:04:45 T2 4:03 R 3:19:30 TOT 9:46:18
