Maurice Clavel of Germany wielded a race-best run to edge fellow countryman Sebastian Kienle by 2:02 and Ruth Astle of Great Britain outbiked Annah Watkinson of South Africa to take the women’s crown by 1:52 at Port Elizabeth.

Clavel combined a 7th-best 22:37 swim (shortened by half due to conditions), a 3rd-fastest 4:18:46 bike split and a race-best 2:45:16 marathon to finish in 7:30:29 with a 2:02 margin over Kienle and 4:05 over 3rd place Rasmus Svenningsson of Denmark.

Astle started with a 2nd-best 26:35 swim split that left her with a 3:11 deficit to swim leader Imogen Simmonds of Switzerland. Astle then wrested a 4:35 lead over Simmonds with a women’s best 4:55:50 bike. Finally Astle held off Annah Watkinson’s race-best 2:59:26 charge on the run with a 4th-fastest 3:11:55 marathon that brought her to the line in 8:38:52 with a 1:52 margin over Watkinson and 8:38 over 3rd place finisher Jade Nicole South Africa.

Men’s race

Henrik Goesch of Finland led the shortened swim with a 22:26 split that gave him a 2 seconds margin over Mathias Lyngso Petersen of Denmark, 3 seconds over Antony Costes and Yvan Jarrige of France, 12 seconds on Clavel, 18 seconds on Kyle Buckingham of South Africa, 25 seconds on Bradley Weiss of South Africa, 40 seconds on Marcus Herbst of Germany, 2 minutes on Sebastian Kienle and 2:04 on Rasmus Svenningsson of Sweden.

Halfway through the 180km bike leg, Svenningsson took a 1 second lead on Herbst, 3 seconds on Buckingham, 5 seconds on Clavel and, after a second-best bike split, 6 seconds on Kienle and 9 seconds on Costes. Lurking 1:23 back in 11th place was Bradley Weiss. After a race-best 4:16:42 bike split, Svenningsson took a 13 seconds lead on Clavel, 21 seconds on Kienle, 7:02 on Buckingham 9:08 on Herbst and 10:17 on Bradley Weiss.

On his way to a race-best 2:45:16, Clavel won by 2:02 over Kienle (2:47:02 marathon), 4:05 on 3rd place finisher Svenningsson, 9:00 on Buckingham in 4th and 14:19 on Weiss in 5th place.

Women’s race

Simmonds led the swim with a by-far best 23:24 split that gave her a 3:11 lead on Astle, 3:17 on Magda Nieuwoudt and Jade Nicole of South Africa, 3:22 on Natia van Heerden of South Africa, and 4:47 on Annah Watkinson.

Astle took firm control of the women’s race with a by-far-best 4:55:50 bike split that gave her a 4:45 lead on Simmonds, 12:28 on Nieuwoudt, 14:03 on Watkinson and 14:09 on Jade Nicole.

Watkinson charged hard with a women’s-fastest 2:59:26 run split, taking gobs of time off Astle’s lead. But that wasn’t enough as Astle’s 4th-best 3:11:55 marathon brought her to the finish in 8:38:52 with a 1:52 margin over Watkinson and 8:38 over third place finisher Jade Nicole (3:06:12 run split).

Ironman South Africa

Port Elizabeth, South Africa
November 21, 2021
S 1.2 mi/ B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi

Men

1. Maurice Clavel (GER) S 22:37 T1 2:13 B 4:18:46 T2 1:39 R 2:45:16 TOT 7:30:29
2. Sebastian Kienle (GER) S 24:25 T1 2:07 B 4:17:12 T2 1:47 R 2:47:02 TOT 7:32:31
3. Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) S 24:30 T1 2:12 B 4:16:42 T2 2:44 R 2:48:30 TOT 7:34:34
4. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) S 22:43 T1 2:04 B 4:25:39 T2 1:34 R 2:47:32 TOT 7:39:30
5. Bradley Weiss (RSA) S 22:50 T1 2:10 B 4:28:40 T2 1:38 R 2:49:32 TOT 7:44:48
6. Antony Costes (FRA) S 22:28 T1 2:05 B 4:29:22 T2 2:09 R 2:55:30 TOT 7:51:32
7. Mathias Lyngso Petersen (DEN) S 22:27 T1 2:05 B 4:33:29 T2 1:47 R 2:52:54 TOT 7:52:41
8. Dominik Sowieja (GER) S 25:17 T1 2:13 B 4:34:03 T2 2:08 R 2:52:16 TOT 7:55:56
9. Marcus Herbst (GER) S 23:06 T1 1:57 B 4:27:28 T2 2:00 R 3:06:01 TOT 8:00:31
10. Henrik Goesch (FIN) S 22:25 T1 2:01 B 4:37:19 T2 1:52 R 2:58:55 TOT 8:02:30

Women

1. Ruth Astle (GBR) S 26:34 T1 2:14 B 4:55:50 T2 2:20 R 3:11:55 TOT 8:38:52
2. Annah Watkinson (RSA) S 28:10 T1 2:11 B 5:08:21 T2 2:27 R 2:59:26 TOT 8:40:43
3. Jade Nicole (RSA) S 26:40 T1 2:45 B 5:09:23 T2 2:32 R 3:06:12 TOT 8:47:29
4. Natia Van Heerden (RSA) S 26:44 T1 2:12 B 5:13:02 T2 1:56 R 3:09:40 TOT 8:53:32
5. Imogen Simmonds (SUI) S 23:32 T1 2:09 B 5:03:41 T2 2:05 R 3:27:16 TOT 8:58:31
6. Katharina Grohmann (GER) S 33:53 T1 2:14 B 5:01:50 T2 2:23 R 3:21:14 TOT 9:01:31
7. Mariella Sawyer (RSA) S 29:43 T1 2:15 B 5:22:41 T2 1:34 R 3:12:34 TOT 9:08:46