British Olympics triathlon star claims first IRONMAN 70.3 victory

British Olympics triathlon star Sam Dickinson has rightly built a reputation for being the ultimate team player, but on Sunday he claimed some well-deserved individual glory with victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Italy Emilia-Romagna 2024.

Dickinson of course was instrumental in helping Alex Yee claim brilliant individual gold medals at both the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. As well as helping GB claim gold and bronze respectively in the Mixed Relay events.

Now 27-year-old Dickinson is proving he can excel at middle distances as well as short-course combat, after roaring to a hugely impressive victory in Italy on Sunday. He led all the way to take the tape first as short-course stars blocked out the podium.

Dickinson’s win also clinched a slot at next year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella.

Swim – Sam heads lead pack

Dickinson was first out of the water in 21:16, with Switzerland’s Fabian Meeusen a whisker behind. Italy’s Michele Bortolamedi was third with two more short-course stars next in the shape of Seth Rider of the US and Germany’s Tim Hellwig. Only eight seconds separated the front five.

Bike – Dickinson pours it on

The British star wasted no time in taking command of the race as he quickly built a 37-second lead over Hellwig, with Meeusen 41 seconds away in third and Rider 43 seconds back in fourth. He continued to gradually build that advantage to more than a minute while France’s Nathan Guerbeur and Germany’s Jannik Schaufler moved into second and third.

It was the final 20k of the bike leg where Sam really took complete control of the race as he really put the hammer down to build a lead of 3:32 over Guerbeur, with Hellwig now just over four minutes back in third. The German star had compatriot Schaufler and American Rider just behind him.

It was now Sam’s race to lose as he headed onto the half-marathon with a commanding advantage. His bike split of 1:58:19 was the best of the day and it would eventually prove the key factor in his bid for victory.

Run – British star brings it home

Dickinson’s advantage was a significant one heading onto the run course, but the chasers gave it everything in a bid to haul in the British ace.

It was Azerbaijan’s Rostyslav Pevtsov who eventually came closest of all, producing by far the best run of the day – a blistering 1:10:39 – to surge through from ninth after the bike to claim second spot.

Pevtsov though could not get within 1:25 of Dickinson though as the Brit produced a measured 1:15:00 run to claim his first victory over the 70.3 distance. Rider also produced an excellent run as he clocked 1:13:16 to claim the final spot on the podium.