Lange & Ryf Repeat as IRONMAN World Champions

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Defending champions Patrick Lange from Germany and Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf, shattered their own course records in the 2018 IROMAN World Championship in what will go down as the fastest race in race history.

Patrick Lange PC: IRONMAN

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of this event by smashing his own course record in the process Lange became the first person to break 8 hours in Kona, clocking a time of 7:52:39. Bart Aernouts, of Belgium, was second, achieving this career high in his seventh attempt at Kona—highlighting just how hard it is to get on the podium in Kona. He also broke 8 hours in 7:56:41, closing with a 2:45 marathon.

Great Britain’s David McNamee was third with a time of 8:01:09, also under the previous course record.

On a day when course records collapsed around him, New Zealand athlete Braden Currie dug unbelievably deep to finish in fifth place at the 2018 Ironman World Championships—crossing the finish line as the 6th fastest individual pro male in the history of the event.

Braden Currie chasing Cameron Wurf. PC: Braden Currie

This 226.26 kilometer ruthless race on the Island of Hawai‘i in Kailua-Kona extracts every last ounce of energy out of the globe’s fittest athletes and Red Bull’s Currie gave it his absolute all to cross the line in 8 hours 4 minutes and 41 seconds.

It was a truly gutsy performance from Currie in what is only his second time racing this grueling event that takes the world’s top professional athletes many attempts to master. Finishing the best of the Kiwis, Currie just held off American athlete Matt Russell by four seconds—exerting an effort so great that he needed to intravenous drip inserted straight after he finished.

Daniel Ryf. PC: IRONMAN

In the women’s division, Ryf broke the tape in 8:26:16—20 minutes, 30 seconds faster than her course record from 2016. Lucy Charles, from Great Britain, was next across the line 10 minutes later. Anne Haug from Germany rounded out the women’s podium in her Kona debut.

Sarah True, from the United States, finished 4th with a time of 8:43:43.

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