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Just as diamonds are created in immense heat and pressure, Bahrain Endurance 13 athletes Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf were flawless under the blistering Frankfurt sun in a top-calibre field to take their first Ironman European Championship each, smashing course records along the way.
Sebastian Kienle and Caroline Steffen also came away with second and third places on the men’s and women’s podiums, respectively.
In their recent performance, the four embodied His Highness Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s vision of fostering international endurance excellence through the Kingdom of Bahrain’s support.
Frodeno debuted over the Ironman distance here last year; the German had the fastest swim and run times but battled three flats ending up in third. There was none of that trouble this year as he came first out of the water, proceeded to build a tremendous lead on the bike, and held tough on the run to finish in 7 hours, 49 minutes, 48 seconds, a dazzling feat in the punishing conditions.
Not only did Frodeno break both the overall course record defending champion and countryman Kienle had set last year, but he also broke Kienle’s bike course record, recording the world’s third-fastest bike split in an ironman. “I didn’t know how fast I was riding, but obviously paid the price a bit on the run,” Frodeno said at the finish, despite his speedy 2:50 marathon in the hot conditions. “The last lap was agony.”
Ryf gave a polished performance in her first appearance at Frankfurt. While it was fellow Swiss Caroline Steffen who exited the water first, Ryf was only four seconds behind her and both stayed in the lead pack on the bike. Ryf moved to the front a quarter of the way through and picked up the pace, with chasers eventually falling back giving her a seven-minute margin leading into the marathon. “Today was my fourth Ironman, and I finally felt like I got everything sorted,” she said.
The wins in Frankfurt crowned a memorable weekend for the Bahrain Endurance Team, which kicked off with twin wins at the Bangkok Triathlon by Fredrik Croneborg and team director Chris McCormack in the standard and sprint distances respectively. Brent McMahon took top honours at the off-road triathlon XTERRA.
His Highness Shaikh Nasser’s vision is coming to fruition through this team as they continue to overcome the toughest conditions and break records on the biggest stage, with the aim of providing inspiration to the people of Bahrain and around the world.
