Swedish star Sara Svensk will miss the delayed 2021 IRONMAN World Championship in St George on May 7.
The 33-year-old revealed the news on Monday evening on Instagram, saying it broke her heart to have to miss out on the big dance in Utah next month.
Another blow for Sara
It is another devastating blow for Sara, after she underwent significant struggles in 2021. She spoke at length to TRI247 about her fight against COVID and then heart problems before she returned to top form at the end of last year at IRONMAN Cozumel.
Svensk produced a fast winning time of 8:22:41 to top the podium on the same day Kristian Blummenfelt set the fastest ever time for the Ironman distance. Sara had earlier showcased her top-level ability by winning IRONMAN Barcelona in 8:34:10 in 2019.
Now though, the chance to test herself against the very best in St George is over, and she will now look to build towards the second IRONMAN World Championship of the year, in Kona in October.
Writing in an Instagram post, she revealed: “It breaks my heart to announce that I will not take part in Ironman World Championship St George.
Svensk on hip injury
“My lead-up to the race has almost been perfect except from a struggling hip. At first I was very confident I would be able not only to race but to race really good in St George.
“Although, after my latest consult with my doctors it became obvious that racing a full Ironman in two weeks will be a risk so my team and I took the hard decision to withdraw. Even if St George is an important race I’m not in a position to take any risks for the future.”
Svensk now will turn her attention to what was always her biggest goal of 2022 – conquering the ‘Big Island’.
“My main goal of the season, Kona, remains and till then I’m going to announce another big race as a replacement for St George.”
Sara is the latest star to be forced to pull out of the huge showdown at St George:
- Likely women’s favourite Lucy Charles-Barclay is out with a broken hip
- Reigning men’s champ Jan Frodeno withdrew with an Achilles injury
- British ace Joe Skipper announced his withdrawal due to COVID-19
- Two-time Kona king Patrick Lange was ruled out with a shoulder injury
- Spanish great Javier Gomez was another to be ruled out by COVID-19
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