Palmerston North’s Kris Gemmell has taken an impressive victory on debut at the Ironman 70.3 Singapore.
Gemmell, known for his short course talents in ITU racing around the world, proved he’s just as good on the long distance course.
In hot and humid conditions, he practically led from start to finish over the 1.9km swim, 90.1km bike and 21.1km run.
With around 1800 triathletes from 69 different countries taking part in the sold out event, Gemmell was the first man out of the water with an impressive 27:44 minute swim.
Fresh off his recent win at the ITU Oceania Championships in Wellington, the 32-year-old stayed strong throughout the bike and was third going into the run after a 2:05:30 ride.
At the 10km mark Gemmell had snatched back the lead and he managed to hold on through the second half to take the victory thanks to a 1:13:40 run.
Gemmell’s overall time of 3:50:56 was just under a minute clear of second place, James Cunnama of South Africa.
Gemmell was typically upbeat about his performance.
"This is awesome to get a win in my first start at this distance. It was so hot and humid though, really hard work but an awesome race. And no relaxing for a start time in the afternoon as with my ITU races, we were up before the sun!”
Meanwhile, fellow Beijing Olympian Bevan Docherty also had success over the weekend with a second place finish in his first Olympic distance race of the season at the Miami round of the 5i50 Triathlon Series.
Ironman 70.3 Singapore
Pro men
1. Kris Gemmell (NZL) 3:50:56
2. James Cunnama (RSA) 3:51:45
3. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 3:54:25
4. Patrick Vernay (NCL) 3:55:50
5. Faris Al-Sultan (GER) 3:56:13
6. Hideo Fukui (JPN) 3:56:32
7. Christian Kemp (AUS) 3:57:00
8. Scott Nyedli (GBR) 3:58:25
9. David Dellow (AUS) 4:00:08
10. Balazs Csoke (HUN) 4:02:38
Pro Women
1. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 4:21:06
2. Amy Marsh (USA) 4:22:32
3. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:25:31
4. Maki Nishiuchi (JPN) 4:31:11
5. Rachael Paxton (AUS) 4:36:52
6. Kirsten Molloy (AUS) 4:37:48
7. Rachael Smith (4:41:17) 4:41:17
8. Emma Ruth Smith (GBR) 4:43:56
