forum shop
Logotype Logotype

True, Loeschke win Ironman 70.3 Austin

Sarah True of the U.S. and Franz Loeschke of Germany win Ironman 70.3 Austin.

True combined a women’s 3rd-best swim, 6th fastest bike split and closed hard with a women’s-best 1:19:26 half marathon to finish in 4:21:18 with a 1:44 margin of victory over Paula Findlay of Canada and 5:17 over 3rd place Jeanni Seymour of South Africa.

True’s win was her second straight 70.3 victory, coming one month after her win at Augusta 70.3.

Findlay's runner-up finish came in her first foray at the 70.3 distance and six weeks after her victory at the Beijing International.

Loeschke combined a 3rd-best swim, 4th-fastest bike split and 2nd-quickest 1:11:15 run to finish in 3:53:50 with a 1:16 margin of victory over Jesper Svensson of Sweden and 1:17 over Justin Metzler of the U.S.

Loeschke’s win tops his previous 2017 best, a 2nd place at Luxembourg 70.3.

Women

Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim in 25:21 which gave her a 1 second lead on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa, 2 seconds on True, 43 seconds on Findlay, 1:28 on Annie Thorén of Sweden, 1:50 on Brittany Oliver of the U.S., 2:11 on Christen Brown of the U.S., and 3:08 on Melanie McQuaid of Canada.

After 25 miles of the bike leg, Spieldenner held a 2 seconds lead on True, 5 seconds on Findlay, and 7 seconds on Seymour, with Christen Brown and Melanie McQuaid just over a minute and a half arrears.

After a women’s 3rd-best 2:30:46 bike split, Brown led the women into T2 by 3 seconds on True (2:33:32 bike split), 14 seconds on McQuaid (2:29:31 bike split), 30 seconds on Spieldenner (2:33:28 bike split), 45 seconds on Findlay (2:33:22 bike split), 47 seconds on Seymour (2:34:14), and 5:13 on Cecilia Davis-Hayes of the U.S. (women’s-fastest 2:28:52 bike split).

At the 3.1 mile mark, True took charge with a 1:06 lead on Findlay, 1:47 on Seymour, 1:52 on Spieldenner, and 2:19 on Brown. At the halfway mark of the half marathon, True maintained a 1:01 lead on Findlay, who was matching True stride for stride, while Seymour fell back to 2:27 and Spieldenner faded to 3:54 arrears.

True remained unbreakable, increasing her lead to 1:14 over Findlay at mile 9.2 while Seymour fell off to 3:14. At mile 11.4, True strengthened her lead to 1:33 on Findlay and 4:24 on Seymour.

After a women’s-best 1:19:26 run, True finished in 4:21:18 with a 1:44 lead on Findlay (1:20:19 run) and 8:17 on 3rd place Seymour (1:23:42 run).

Men

Jesper Svensson of Sweden led the swim in 23:35 which gave him a 52 seconds lead on Bruno Joaquim of Brazil, 58 seconds on Loeschke, 59 seconds on TJ Tollakson of the U.S., 1:00 on Paul Matthews of Australia, 1:36 on Justin Metzler of the U.S.,1:48 on Taylor Reid of Canada, and 2:13 on Matt Hanson of the U.S.

Halfway through the bike leg, Tollakson surged out front of a pack of seven – by 1:38 on Metzler, 1:42 on Loeschke, 1:44 on Matthews, 1:46 on Reid, 1:48 on Eli Hemming of the U.S., 1:49 on Svensson, and 1:51 on Timothy Winslow of the U.S.

After a race-best bike split of 2:11:52, Tollakson arrived at T2 2:52 ahead of Metzler, 2:56 on Reid, 2:59 ahead of Loeschke, and 3:01 on Svensson.

Loeschke took over the lead at 3 miles into the run by a 30 seconds margin on a tight pack including Tollakson, Metzler, Reid, and Svensson.

Halfway through the run, Loeschke increased his lead to 1:27 on Reid, Metzler and Svensson, with Tollakson 1:50 down and Matt Hanson making up time fast, reducing his deficit to 5:50.

Loeschke closed out his victory with a 2nd-fastest 1:11:15 run which gave him a 1:16 margin of victory over Svensson (1:12:32 run) and 1:17 on 3rd place Metzler (1:12:50 run). Tollakson (1:16:20 run) took 4th, 3:18 behind the winner and Reid (1:15:20 run) took 5th, 46 seconds behind Tollakson.

Ironman 70.3 Austin
Austin, Texas
October 29, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Sarah True (USA) 4:21:18 S 25:23 B 2:33:32 R 1:19:26
2. Paula Findlay (CAN) 4:23:02 S 26:03 B 2:33:22 R 1:20:19
3. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:26:35 S 25:22 B 2:34:14 R 1:23:42
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:29:48 S 25:21 B 2:33:28 R 1:27:15
5. Christen Brown (USA) 4:31:27 S 27:31 B 2:30:46 R 1:29:23

Men

1. Franz Loeschke (GER) 3:53:50 S 24:33 B 2:14:46 R 1:11:15
2. Jesper Svensson (SWE) 3:55:06 S 23:35 B 2:15:28 R 1:12:22
3. Justin Metzler (USA) 3:55:07 S 25:10 B 2:14:19 R 1:12:50
4. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:57:07 S 24:34 B 2:11:52 R 1:16:20
5. Taylor Reid (CAN) 3:57:53 S 25:23 B 2:13:58 R 1:15:20

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Do you think the new hydration and fairing rules are good for triathlon?