Ryf first ‘million-dollar baby’

With the winning of the women’s title in the Ironman 70.3 Bahrain Middle East Challenge and also creating history as triathlon’s first “million-dollar baby,” Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf has completed a remarkable invincible season. Ryf clinched the title by finishing the race in three hours 28 minutes 20 seconds.

A member of Bahrain Endurance Elite 13 team, she is a world champion twice over, having also added the Ironman World Championship to her list of accolades. 

Ryf completed the 90km of cycling in two hours seven minutes and 28 seconds and passing iconic landmarks such as Al Fateh Grand Mosque,

Gudaibiya Palace, Bahrain Museum, Bahrain Bay, Four Seasons Hotel, Bahrain World Tade Centre and Bahrain Financial harbour. Then she headed south after going through the Seef area and passing the A’ali Burial Mounds, the Oil Museum and Number One Oil Well before reaching Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

She was two minutes faster then Sweden’s Asa Lundstrom (2:09.28) after the cycling stage with another Swiss Caroline Steffan (2:12:54) third at this stage. On the 21.1 km run stage, Ryf finished in one hour 18 minutes 48 seconds and more than four minutes ahead of her compatriot Steffan (1:22.54) who finished second at the finish as the runners did a loop around BIC and then onto Al Areen Wildlife Park and back to the finish at BIC. Lundstrom had to settle for third place after slipping behind Steffan during the running stage.

Ryf’s compatriot Caroline Steffen made it a one-two for Bahrain Endurance on the women’s podium, making her pass for second in the final kilometers of the run. “I’m really glad the season is over,” she said. “I was hoping for top three, at least second I think I could be pretty happy with that. I never did back-to-back races so that was a good experience. Being not healthy all week long didn’t really help but I learned a lot this week and I think I absolutely got the best out of me. It’s a great way to finish a big year.” 

Men’s category

The men’s professional category was claimed by Belgian Bart Aernouts who completed the cycling (1:55:14) and running (1:14:00) for first place in three hours 11 minutes 15 seconds.

Aernouts had established a more than two minutes lead after the cycling stage with Brent McMahon (1:57:30) and David Plese (1:57:57) in second and third places respectively. Following Aernouts victory, second place went to Switzerland’s Ruedi Wild (3:12:26) with third place going to South African and Elite 13 member James Cunnama (3:13:54) for bronze.

Shaikh Nasser shines

Bahrain Team captain Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa claimed the silver medal in his age group (Men’s 25-29 years) and overall 65th out of around 1,100 athletes and was proudly wearing his lucky bib number 13 and greeted at the finish by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the finish line.

Shaikh Nasser completed the cycling (2:21.08) and the run (1:32:47) for a combined time of (3:56.14).

Winning this category was Australian Christian Ryan (3:34:20) who was 22nd overall and third place went to Spaniard Aday Alvarez Diez de Ulzurran (3:57:01) who was 69th. Other Bahrain associated runners included Jodie Swallow (3:49:08) who finished fourth in the pro women’s despite gastric problems that left her heaving and with no energy.

David Plese (Slovenia, 3:15.54) also took fourth, while Brent McMahon (3:15:38) crossed the finish line just seconds behind him in fifth, with Ben Hoffman (3:22:56) in 12th and Eric Watson (3:40:15) 19th overall.

Other Bahrain successes were in the relay category when the team of Mohammed Shareeda (3:30.30) came in first and 17th overall and The Good The Bad The Ugly (3:39.35) fourth and 30th overall.

The oldest competitor was an 85-year old physicist Lew Hollander from Oregon, US who completed the cycling (3:17:22) but withdrew after 16km in the running. 

Many of the participants said the cycling stage was difficult as the winds changed directions frequently making it very hard and surprised at the frequency.

“It has been a massive weekend and an even more accomplished year for the Bahrain Endurance Team. Super proud to play a part in the richest day in our sport’s history,” said team manager Chris McCormack. “Bahrain is changing the professional landscape of our sport.”

 Of the registered 1,100 participants, more than a quarter were female and over 300 Bahrainis had taken part. It has also been announced that Dubai will be hosting an Ironman 70.3 Championship early in the New Year.

Results: 

Top 10 Men (country, cycle, run, total): 

1) Bart Aernouts (Bel, 1:55:14, 1:14:00, 3:11.15), 2) Ruedi Wild (Sui, 1:58:21, 1:12:02, 3:12:26), 3) James Cunnama (Rsa, 1:58:07, 1:14:01, 3:13:54), 4) David Plese (1:57:57, 1:15:26, 3:15:24), 5) Brent McMahon (Can, 1:57:30, 1:16:15, 3:15:38), 6) Antony Costes (Fra, 1:58:00, 1:16:04, 3:15:52), 7) Christian Hoerper (Ger, 1:59:49, 1:15:58, 3:17:47), 8 Albert Molins (Esp, 2:01:55, 1:14:42, 3:18:36), 9) Bertrand Ballard (Fra,1:59:24, 1:17:08, 3:18:41), 10) Domenico Passuello (Ita, 1:58:22, 1:18:28, 3:19.10).

Top 7 Women (country, cycle, total): 

1) Daniela Ryf (2:07:28, 1:18:48, 3:28:20), 2) Caroline Steffan (Sui, 2:12:54, 1:22:54, 3:37:45), 3) Asa Lundstrom (Swe, 2:09:28, 1:28:06, 3:39:35), 4) Jodie Swallow (Gbr, 2:12:55, 1:34:17, 3:49:08), 5) Caroline Livesey (Gbr, 2:22:06, 1:32:52, 3:57:14), 6) Lucia Zelenkova Reed (Cze, 2:30:00, 1:33:57, 4:06:05), 7) Carina Bretchers (Ger, 2:32:38, 1:37:56, 4:12:48).