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The Kona Press Conference 2018 Roundup

Thursday in Kona saw the Pro Press Conference at the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii. Here's a roundup of who said what ahead of Saturday's big race...
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Who said what at the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship Press Conference?

Lionel Sanders wins Quote of the Day: “Please punch me in the face!”

Always great for a quote, Canada’s Lionel Sanders takes the ‘prize’ for best performance at Thursday’s IRONMAN World Championship Press Conference. Is that a sign that he’ll be able to follow up with another victory on Saturday?

Here are some selected soundbites from Hawaii.

PICTURE CREDITS – JAMES MITCHELL PHOTOGRAPHY (www.jamesmitchell.eu)


IRONMAN World Championship 2018 Press Conference

Andrew Messick, CEO and President of IRONMAN

  • 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships to Taupo, New Zealand (FULL DETAILS)
  • 225,000 unique athletes raced at an IRONMAN race over the past year
  • 2019: 41 IRONMAN and 117 IRONMAN 70.3 races including new races in Oman and Greece, and expecting new races in Russia and India
  • The “percentage of athletes who can take a slot who do” is higher from Nice, France than any previous 70.3 World Champs

Javier Gomez

  • “After 15 years of doing a lot of the same things, I’m excited to be here and enjoying it.”
  • “I’m realistic – I have a lot of respect to this race and the people here. I’ll give my best and try to fight, but rookies don’t win first time for a reason. I have to stay focussed and not make too many mistakes”
IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell
Patrick Lange and Javier Gomez

Mirindra Carfrae

  • “No ones needs to worry about me… I’m a has-been Mum!”
  • “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how this season has gone – mentally I feel fresh… I’m excited to get back out on the course and race these girls”

Sebastian Kienle

  • “What keeps me going is remembering the feeling of 2017… feeling sorry for myself, what could I have done better.”
  • “Nothing is more dangerous to success in the future than success in the past… if you live in that past, you won’t get success in the future.”
  • “There are a lot of strong runners in the field… it’s going to be very interesting.”

IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell

Lucy Charles

  • “Last year was a pretty magical day really  – it looked easy but it wasn’t, I promise! You know everyone is suffering at the end of that run, so you try and take a bit of comfort from that.”
  • “It was a steep learning curve from signing up for the that first Ironman. We love what we are doing which I think is why we get the results that we do.”

IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell

Lionel Sanders

IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell

“Please punch me in the face!”

Daniela Ryf

  • “This race has given me so much, I just love doing it. I still want to show more, to get better and show something you haven’t yet achieved.”
  • “Lucy showed a phenomenal race in South Africa. It pushed me, I knew I would have to prove I could run, I loved it. It was a great race and I’m looking forward to a great race on Saturday.”
  • “I feel ready, but I know a lot can happen.”

IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell

Patrick Lange

  • “I believe it is better to start with low expectations and then see where you can get to.”
  • “I was thankful for Jan (Frodeno) for having that stellar season – I feel sorry for him that he’s not here. Look down that row – it’s still tough competition and that drives me, day in, day out, to try and win this race again.”

IRONMAN World Championship 2018 - Photo James Mitchell

John Levison
Written by
John Levison
TRI247's Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
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