Fascination Ironman Hawaii – The toughest triathlon on earth
Sports show.
01.12.2019.
20:06 Min..
Available until 01.12.2020.
The first.
By Oliver Mayer (HR).
When the Collins family on the Hawaiian island of Oahu kicked off the first Ironman competition in 1978, none of the 15 participants suspected that a good 40 years later around 500,000 triathletes a year around the world would try to put up with these exertions in order to To become Ironman.
The race has been taking place on the largest island in Hawaii, Big Island, for many years. In high heat of up to 40 degrees in the shade, with strong winds on the bike route and a final, agonizing marathon on the so-called “Queen K” highway, thousands of heroic stories are written every year. In 1997 Thomas Hellriegel became the first German to win the title “Ironman World Champion”. He was initially followed by Norman Stadler (2004/2006) and Faris al Sultan (2005) on the podium at the top. Since 2014 (Sebastian Kienle), a German triathlete has always had the wreath on his head. Triathlon Olympic champion Jan Frodeno continued German dominance with his victories in 2015/2016. The Hesse Patrick Lange won in 2017/2018 and set various records, remaining the first athlete under the magic “eight-hour limit” in 2018. However, his time of 7:52:39 hours only lasted for one year, because in 2019 Jan Frodeno won the World Cup title for the third time and was even faster (7:51:13 hours). Anne Haug was the first German woman to cross the finish line on Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona in 2019. The race starts at 6:15 a.m. and ends at 0:30 a.m. when the last starter finishes. Over 3,000 athletes, in the age groups from 18 to 85 years, qualify for this hardest day of the year. Oliver Mayer tells the stories about the “Fascination Ironman Hawaii”.
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