He’d just won the biggest race of all for a third time but Patrick Lange admitted his main goal ahead of the IRONMAN World Championship had been to not put too much pressure on himself.

This season has seen some highs and lows and the 38-year-old German superstar admitted he’s far from immune from bouts of nerves.

Indeed, he revealed his hopes of a big show on home turf at IRONMAN Frankfurt, where he finished a relatively distant eighth, had been severely impacted.

Lange Frankfurt panic attack

Asked about that by host Paul Kaye at the post-race press conference after those Kona heroics he explained: “To be 100% honest with you, I had a panic attack before the start and that put me definitely on the wrong foot to start the race with.

“So my biggest goal for this race here when we talked about in our race briefing about A, B, C goals was definitely going into this race mentally well prepared and more relaxed and grateful to be here.

“And take this as a chance to shine and don’t put too much pressure on myself.”

It’s good to talk

Lange also underlined the importance of talking to others – including his rivals such as Magnus Ditlev, who would chase him home in second.

He added: “I had a chat with Magnus at the pre-race press conference and we talked about race nervousness and could just exchange thoughts on that level.

“I think that also helped me a little bit that we’re all sitting in the same boat and as Rudy [von Berg, who was third] also mentioned, the mental preparations and the mental game is probably the most important thing.

“And also thanks to my team I think we had a perfect time here.

“It’s been just an amazing time here and also thanks to the island gods, I’m sitting where I’m sitting now and just absolutely mind blown by that.”