Kristian Blummenfelt and Katrina Matthews become the first triathletes to go under 7 and 8 hours respectively over the Ironman distance
Lausitzring, Saxony, June 05, 2022: Blummenfelt and Matthews make history by becoming the first athletes ever to achieve the Sub7 and Sub8 milestones on the Ironman distance. Supported by ten pacemakers in all three disciplines making the impossible possible, the results, while not recognized by official bodies, are nonetheless impressive.
On the closed race track of the Dekra Lausitzring in Saxony, all three disciplines were completed under "laboratory conditions" and without observing the slipstream rule.
Dominant performance by Blummenfeldt
Blummenfelt completed the 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42 km run in 6:44:25 hours .
Swimming: 48:21 mins
Bike: 3:24:22 h
Run: 2:30:50 h
In November 2021 he had already set a new long-distance world record in 7:21:12 on his Ironman debut at IM Cozumel. Also: just four weeks before the Sub7 record attempt, the Norwegian was crowned Ironman Champion at the Ironman World Championship in Utah (Editor's note: due to the Corona Pandemic, the Ironman World Championship 2021 could not take place in October 2021 in Hawaii as planned, but was held at the Ironman St. George - Utah - on May 7, 2022).
"Breaking the 7 mark is the result of hard work and a lot of passion with which I kept pushing my limits - physically and mentally. I'm very happy with today's result and I want to thank my incredible pacemakers, who supported me throughout the course Kudos also to Skipper and the other athletes for their efforts It was a once in a lifetime event with a super fast course and great conditions that helped my plan come true today. "
In addition to Blummenfeldt, Joe Skipper (GBR) also took part in the Sub7 Challenge and finished 3:11 minutes behind the Norwegian. With a time of 6:47:36 hours, Skipper also clearly undercut the 7-hour mark.
From substitute to winner, Matthews outdoes himself
After the Ironman 70.3 World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay was unable to take part in the Sub8 due to injury, the British Katrina Matthews jumped in for her without further ado. Matthews also took part in the Ironman World Championships in St. George (Utah) four weeks earlier and finished second there behind Daniela Ryf. With an impressive performance at the Lausitzring, she clearly broke the 8-hour mark and secured the new best time of 7:31:54 hours - ahead of Nicola Spirig (Switzerland) who was 3:05 minutes behind.
Swimming: 54:43 mins
Bike: 3:50:06 h
Run: 2:46:09 h
"I have a lot of emotions, but above all I feel gratitude for this great team effort. Even though I was registered late for the event, I knew what I was capable of. But to see that the time at the finish was actually a seven instead of an eight starts was crazy - I don't have any other word to describe it."
