Triple Hawaii ironman winner Mirinda Carfrae demolishes record in Austrian triathlon
AUSTRALIAN triathlon star Mirinda Carfrae has roared back into contention to resume her reign as queen of the Hawaii ironman after smashing the course record at Ironman Austria — and a celebratory beer.
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The three-time Hawaii ironman triathlon winner (2010, 2013, 2014) was forced out of the famed endurance race a year ago with back issues sustained in two separate bike crashes in the lead-up to the annual October race.
But in a major lead-in to this year’s event which also secured her a spot on the startline in Hawaii, Carfrae broke Linsey Corbin’s women’s race record by an astounding 1min 25 sec.
She also posted her fastest ever race marathon time.
With husband and triathlete Tim O’Donnell watching from the sidelines, Carfrae covered the 1.9km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run course in 8:41.17 (59:15 swim, 4:47:39 bike, 2:49:06 run) to finish in 8:41:17.
It is understood the former basketballer and Olympic distance triathlete’s 2:49:06 marathon ranks as the third best split in women’s history behind UK star Chrissie Wellington’s 2:44:35 at 2011 Roth and 2:48:54 at 2010 Roth.
So impressive was Carfrae on the course she finished a whopping 16 plus minutes ahead of her nearest rival, local Michaela Herlbauer. Fellow Austrian Elisabeth
Gruber was more than half an hour behind.
Belgium triathlete Marino Vanhoenacker won his eighth Ironman Austria title at the event.
Results
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 8:41:17
2. Michaela Herlbauer (AUT) 8:57:23
3. Elisabeth Gruber (AUT) 9:17:20
Men
1. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 8:04:18
2. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 8:09:54
3. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 8:13:53