The Kona Press Conference 2018 Roundup

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)

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”

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.”

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.”

Lionel Sanders

“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.”

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.”