Welcome back Eimear Mullan – IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen winner

The ‘Green Machine’ is back… and winning

In October 2015, Ireland’s Eimear Mullan broke her own Irish IRONMAN record at IRONMAN Barcelona, when she broke nine-hour mark and crossed the line in 8:56:51. Since that time, Eimear has been all but absent from international competition, dealing with and recovering from long-term injuries – which actually date back as far as May 2015. Now 35, Eimear showed her resilience and determination not to quit and get back to racing this past weekend, when she won IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen in China.

I was very grateful just to have made the startline at Xiamen 70.3 & I'm shocked & delighted to win in a tough battle with two strong fast ladies! Thanks to all who have helped get me back on my feet. I've some way to go to be fully fixed but I'm happy to be on the way. ❤️

A post shared by Eimear Mullan (@eimeartri) on Nov 12, 2017 at 1:18am PST

At the finish, Eimear took the win by just 12 seconds on what was a pretty much race-long battle with Imogen Simmonds (SUI).

The men’s race was another close battle, with Sam Betten (AUS) just able to sprint away from Justin Metzler (USA), for a winning margin of just 15 seconds.

Quite the war with this man, @sambetten today at #im703xiamen 🥊. 2nd for me in the end (another sprint 🙈). A nice cherry🍒 on top of what has already been a great ‘17 racing season. If anyone needs me, I’ll be out back doing 100m reps on the track 😜.

A post shared by Justin Metzler (@bigmetztri) on Nov 11, 2017 at 10:52pm PST

IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen – Sunday 12th November 2017
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km

PRO WOMEN

1st – Eimear Mullan (IRL) – 4:14:22
2nd – Imogen Simmonds (SUI) – 4:14:34
3rd – Haley Chura (USA) – 4:18:28
4th – Sarah Cometo (USA) – 4:24:10
5th – Monica Juhart (AUS) – 4:28:19

PRO MEN

1st – Sam Betten (AUS) – 3:53:30
2nd – Justin Metzler (USA) – 3:53:$5
3rd – Jonathan Shearon (USA) – 3:55:01
4th – Felipe Azevedo (UAE) – 3:58:44
5th – Johannes Moldan (GER) – 3:59:23