The Ironman 70.3 World Championship is just days away and we'll soon find out whether or not Gustav Iden and Lucy Charles-Barclay can defend their titles.
As we build up to the big day(s), the top athletes set to take to the start line have been speaking about their preparations and how they're feeling ahead of the race.
Given he won the Ironman World Championship just a few weeks before, many a lot of eyes were on Iden to see how he's shaping up ahead of the weekend. As we've come to expect, the Norwegian was typically understated. “I’m feeling okay, I guess. It was cool to win the full as well as having my two 70.3 titles. It’s been a good career so far.”
"It's hard to go into this race feeling hungry"
Speaking about how that win impacted how he was feeling ahead of this weekend, he had this to say: "I’m really motivated to do well here but for me everything has been going into Kona. You feel satisfied but also empty, in a way, coming after such a big victory.”
“It’s not that I’m going into this race, as I’ve done before, [thinking] my career really depends on this race. I feel like in previous years I’d never done that well going into the 70.3 [world champs] and I felt like I had to prove my career and defend my sponsors. But for now, I did so well in Kona so I feel it’s hard to go into this race feeling hungry, but I’ll still do my best to perform.”
Controversial comments or a bit of banter?
Iden was then asked how he felt about a few changes to the run course being made. He said: “I think it suits me better. I actually didn’t enjoy the run course too much last year. And now I have some new shoes that I prefer running a bit more flat in them. For sure this course suits me better."
He finished by talking about the men's and women's races taking place on separate days, with his comments drawing laughter from those in the room. "It’s a shame that we don’t race the same day," he said, "because last year it was a challenge for me to lap the girls, so it’s going to be hard when they start one day in advance.
"But it’s going to be good to have some time to watch the girls because that’s always something you miss out on when you race the same day. So I’m going to bring out my t-shirt, wave it around for the girls and I expect the same from them.”
Excited to watch the women race on Friday and the men on Saturday? Here's how to watch the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Watch the full Ironman 70.3 World Championship press conference
Top image credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Ironman
