Cheetham and Gossage podium in Ironman African Championships in South Africa
What a great weekend for British women triathletes – not only did Helen Jenkins win WTS Gold Coast but there were two Brits on the Ironman Port Elizabeth podium; Susie Cheetham in silver and Lucy Gossage in bronze. Kaisa Lehtonen won.
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British triathlete Jodie Swallow was the early leader, with an expected strong swim in some choppy water, however a fall on the bike allowed Australian athlete Annabel Luxford the opportunity to take the lead, which she held until T2. Swallow carried on and remained in second position until T2 with the gap between first and second over five minutes, howver she withdrew 2km into the run.
Lehtonen stayed as close as possible to the leading pair on the bike, entering T2 in third with Lucy Gossage (GBR) and Susie Cheetham (GBR) following.
Luxford headed out onto the run with a valuable time cushion considering the running talent in the chasers, however the winning trio, passed her after 13km. It could have been gold for Britain but Lehtonen managed to hold off Cheetham’s charge to win her first Ironman.
Racing a good friend helps you push through the pain! Brilliant race @susiecheetham . Love and hate racing with you! https://t.co/8BiiIpKtsB
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— lucy gossage (@lucygoss) April 10, 2016
Staged in Nelson Mandela Bay and the city of Port Elizabeth, South Africa’s second oldest city. The day begins with a one-lap, 3.8km swim course. The bike course, featuring a new route in 2016, takes athletes out on two flat, fast laps of 90 km on one of the most spectacular bike courses on the Ironman circuit. Athletes return along the coast to the transition area to start the run.
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