Olympic Champion Kate Allen Wins Karnten Ironman Austria

Monday, 4th July 2005

Olympic Champion Kate Allen and Ironman South Africa winner Raynard Tissink won Karnten Ironman Austria in dominating style here today at an event that is rapidly proving itself as one of the fastest Ironman races on the Ironman circuit.

The crowd watching today's Karnten Ironman Austria was well over 100,000 strong, providing the almost 2,000 competitors with a steady stream of encouragement as they worked their way through the blazingly fast multi-loop course here in the University town of Klagenfurt. It wasn't just the pros who were going fast here in Klagenfurt by just over 11 hours, more than 800 athletes had crossed the line!

After winning this race two years ago in a blistering 8:54, the Austrian media were buzzing over the possibility that the Olympic champion might surpass Paula Newby-Fraser's world best time here today.

 Allen didn't rule that possibility out, but made it abundantly clear pre-race that her primary goal here today was to get herself a qualifying spot for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, and wouldn't risk that spot by going too hard.

 She was pushed throughout the bike ride by countrywoman Monika Altenreiter, and it wasn't until the third loop of the bike that Allen was finally able to take the lead in the race.

 Once she had done that, though, the end result became a forgone conclusion. Allen's 3:03 marathon distanced her from the rest of the women in the field. Italy's Edith Niederfrininger managed to run her way to second place thanks to a 3:11 marathon run.

 In the men's race, Raynard Tissink was pretty much everyone's pick as the pre-race favourite, and, like he did at Ironman South Africa earlier this year, he put the hammer down on the bike, opened up a gap on the rest of the men chasing behind, and then simply ran a steady marathon to ensure he got to the line first.

 Austrian's Norbert Langbrandtner and Werner Leitner ran together for much of the marathon, but were never able to make a dent in the South African's lead. They would, however, give Austria a lot to celebrate with their second and third place finishes.

 Tissink has now won Ironman events on four continents until a few years ago he used to talk about a dream of winning Ironman races on five continents. Now he's hinting that he might like to split "Australasia" into two, which means he'll have to go for six wins on six continents!

 However you want to play the wording, Tissink is now in some very unique company, having won two Ironman races this year, and showing that he truly could be a contender in Kona later this year if he can stay with the leaders through the bike.

 Kate Allen will also be a woman we'll be watching in Kona this October the Olympic champ would dearly love to add the Ford Ironman World Championship to that already impressive resume that now includes two Ironman Austria titles, along with that gold-coloured medal she picked up in Athens last year!

Article Source: Ironmanlive.com, Sunday, 3 July 2005