Defending champion Kristian Blummenfelt was unable to put up a fight for a second consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title in Lahti yesterday, as the Norwegian finished way down in 36th after an incredibly demanding August race schedule.
Prior to his trip to Finland, Blu had raced across three continents in the space of three weeks, with a podium at the PTO Tour US Open in Milwaukee followed by a solid race at the Paris Olympic Test Event and then culminating with a fantastic first win on the PTO Tour at the Asian Open in Singapore.
In Finland, however, after battling bravely through the swim and initial part of the bike, the Olympic champion started to slip further back in the chase pack as the pace at the front continued to ratchet up. In the end, despite struggling with suspected stomach issues, Blummenfelt soldiered on to the finish, more than twenty minutes down on race winner Rico Bogen.
“I just wasn’t able to get ready in time”
After seemingly coming down with a stomach issue that struck a number of the athletes who doubled up in Finland after racing in Singapore, including one of the pre-race favourites Jason West, Blummenfelt explained that the turnaround for the World Championships was just too tight.
“Ran out of energy yesterday. After struggling with some stomach issues after Singapore I just wasn’t able to get ready in time. Congratulations to the three Germans upfront for sweeping the podium.”
Now, after racing what the former IRONMAN World Champion claims to be his last long distance race ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Norwegian has another crazy month of racing ahead of him in the world of short course triathlon, with Super League and World Triathlon events on the horizon.
Should he recover from Finland in time, he is expected to race for a team he has a vested interest in as the co-founder of Santara Tech, the Team Santara Tech Eagles led by Tim Don, at the second round of the Super League Triathlon Championship Series in Toulouse next weekend.
From France and the short and sharp racing style of Super League, preparations will begin for the WTCS Grand Final over the Olympic distance in Pontevedra, followed shortly by the third round of the Super League series in Malibu, California at the end of September. As always, if it was anyone other than Blummenfelt, it would be deemed insanity, but for the Norwegian, this summer is just another impressive set of results and races added to his already glowing resume.
