Wellington in fighting mood

"My swim is stronger, my bike is stronger and my run is stronger" – a sentance to make any potential contender to Miss Wellington's throne pack up their Lycra and go home. No less confident without a coach, the two-time world champ was in defiant mode for the pre-race conference yesterday in Kona, while at the same time acknowledging that she was up against one of the strongest womens' fields in the sports history.



After uttering those foreboding words, Chrissie's fellow athletes, Yvonne Van Vlerken – who has a good chance of threatening Chrissie's chances – Sandra Wollenhorst and co looked less than impressed with her bold statement. But Chrissie made it crystal clear she was out for the win, in the fastest possible time, and if that meant breaking a record or two in the process, so be it, even though that wasn't her main aim.



Defending men's champion Craig Alexander was positive about his title-defending chances, and, again unsurprisingly, out for the win. Normann Stadler was thrown into the conversation a lot (he wasn't there), his bike power still an undeniable hurdle for any Ironman to face, even a defending champ. Second-placed man, Eneko Llanos was less exubrant, but certainly up for the challenge and looking forward to a day's racing. Rookie Terrenzo Bozzone, I think, was just stoked to be there, taking it all in his typical nonchalent stride.



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