Supplied
French triathlete Leon Chevalier won the 2023 Isuzu Ironman Africa Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay on Sunday.
He finished in the 18th edition of the event a time of 07:11:44 to win his second event, after his maiden victory in 2021.
South Africa’s Bradley Weiss was in second place in a time of -7:16:03, followed by Denmark’s Mathias Lings Petersen who completed the race in 07:20:55.
The first woman home was Laura Phillip of Germany in a time of 8:01:59, followed by Fennella Langridge of Britain (08:13:17), and Penny Slater of Australia came in third in a time of 08:17:25.
Speaking after his win, Chevalier said the day proceeded with uncertainty due to rain, and lightning in the morning leading the organisors to shorten the swim.
“In the end, it is a tough call to make for the organization to shorten the swim, but I think it was probably best for everyone’s safety. It’s not quite a full Ironman, but tough enough as it is,” he added.
Laura Phillips described it as a “special day” with a shortened swim and thunderstorms in the morning.
“I was happy that we still got to swim a little bit, then it was full gas on the bike. On the run, the heat and humidity really picked up and that made me suffer.
Overall, I had one of the toughest days of my life. That run was really brutal and I think without this amazing crowd I would have walked or not even made it to the finish line,” she said.
