Sebastian Kienle has announced that he will chase that finish-line feeling one more time, despite deciding earlier in the year that his glittering triathlon career would come to an end following the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon.
The German, who also raced at IRONMAN New Zealand earlier in the season where he finished fourth, revealed that he made the decision after not being happy with the way he finished the recent race in Norway and wants to make amends.
With a number of high-profile events coming up in the next few months, such as IRONMAN Western Australia, IRONMAN Israel and IRONMAN Florida, it will be interesting to see which one the 39-year-old decides to do.
“The moment where I lied to myself”
Sharing with full transparency on his Instagram page the reason behind the decision, Kienle revealed that whilst running up Zombie Hill during the Norseman, he knew it would not be his final outing.
“The moment where I lied to myself. Running up Zombie Hill at Norseman I was in no man’s land. I wasn’t able to believe that I would still be able to win the race, but I knew I would finish second (like so often), if I kept going. And I was going very slowly. When your body gets weak you try to convince him to keep going.
“I came to the conclusion that this will be my last long-course race. During a long career you most likely become very good at making yourself believe things that are probably not true. But I made a lot of those things happen, so I learned to believe.
“This time I knew a couple of days later that I probably wasn’t honest with myself. I wanted to do a last race where I know that it will be my last one before I start it. So I will do one more race which will be my last one.”
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
