Luke McKenzie has just crossed the line here to take back-to-back titles at Ironman Japan. It was a jubilant McKenzie running down the chute, acknowledging everyone in attendance, and of course proudly holding the Australian flag.It was a humble Luke McKenzie acknowleding the crowd, who admitted once he realized his magnitude of his lead with 6km to go, began to struggle, and upon reaching the final three kilometers, had to stop at each aid station for at least 30 seconds.
'I'm not going to make it' he told Whit Raymond, 'but as soon as I got over that final hill, I lifted and knew I'd get home'.
'I gave it everything, it took so much out of me' was all he could manage by the end, clearly struggling with putting everything he had into today's race. And with back-to-back titles, it was an amazing effort for the 27 year old, who has now taken his third Ironman crown.
Final Standings - Top 10 Men
1. Luke McKenzie 8:28:31
2. Courtney Ogden 8:42:54
3. Petr Vabrousek 8:45:59
4. Park Byung Hoon 8:49:10
5. Kuniaki Takahama 8:51:28
6. Hiroyuki Nishiuchi 8:56:59
7. Cameron Watt 8:57:54
8. Morimichi Iihoshi 9:03:22
9. Masayuki Matsumaru 9:04:14
10. Daiki Masuda 9:05:17
Final Standings - Top 10 Women
1. Nicole Klingler 9:52:52
2. Nicole Ward 9:56:00
3. Megumi Shigaki 10:01:07
4. Hiromi Sato 10:07:50
5. Hillary Biscay 10:14:19
6. Kaori Tokai 10:31:29
7. Mai Taketomo 10:46:18
8. Amanda Balding 10:51:55
9. Anne Fallows 11:05:59
10. Masako Kawakami 11:11:21
1 comment:
Luke McKenzie deserves it, he's been into arduous training for this ironman, like any other I'm sure everyone is but he just keep up his pace and did great - what a moment it is.
Signature: Sports photography captures the glory and honor of the game - www.blinqphotography.com captures that moment for a lifetime.
Post a Comment