Britain's Liz Blatchford had the cruellest of finishes at Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya in Malaysia last weekend, leading the pack out of the water and all the way through the bike before being overtaken by Czech athlete Radka Vodickova in the final kilometre of the run.
“To lead the race the whole day and then to lose it in the last kilometer is harsh,” said Liz. “I overheated on the run, not moving very fast at all in the last few kilometers. My swim was good, even though the heat was already a factor. On the bike, I managed to make a gap on Radka straight away and build a good lead.
"When I got to the run course, I felt okay. It was difficult to gauge splits on the two-loop course. Around 15km, I was struggling and then I heard Radka was catching up. So I lifted my level a bit. I think that took me over the edge and I sort of exploded. When she passed me, I had nothing left. She was running really well though. I don’t know that I would have been able to hold her off if I had raced smarter.”
Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) won the men's race, overcoming the heat and humidity to cross the line in 3:55.36, ahead of Denis Chevrot (FRA) and fellow Australian John Polson.
Women's results
1. Radka Vodickova (CZE): 04:23:09
2. Liz Blatchford (GBR): 04:24:17
3. Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS): 04:38:35
4. Katja Rabe (GER): 04:52:07
5. Matilda Raynolds (AUS): 04:53:21
6. Shiao-Yu Li (TWN): 05:19:52
Men's results
1. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS): 03:55:36
2. Denis Chevrot (FRA): 03:57:42
3. John Polson (AUS): 04:06:37
4. Stuart Marais (RSA): 04:08:38
5. Fredrik Croneberg (SWE): 04:09:13
6. Michael Fox (AUS): 04:15:36
7. Alex Reithmeier (AUS): 04:25:47
(Main image: Bert Stephani)