It was a great performance and I would expect nothing else from Matt. Matt is a strong ox athlete and is always very consistent and I am sure he is excited to get back to Kona and finish what he was unfortunately unable to finish last year.

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Super Kudos to Matt. That is an amazing come back after almost dying in Kona and in usual form doing many races close to gether!

He just missed a slot to Kona! Amazing performance and he should be proud of how far he has come since the accident.

Ugggh. So close. In the final miles, how aware are these guys of their time back and time/place needed for punch their ticket to Kona?

Agree, this was wildly impressive given the competition and difficulty of the course/day. A breakthrough for him on his comeback journey. Super-happy for the guy!

IMO the best performance of the day, and maybe the year!


Agreed - lost a bit in the Cody Beals debut and the ongoing, Lionel Sanders raw self-analysis was the whole Matt Russell story.

From nearly dying right there on the Queen K Hwy at Waikoloa last year at the IRONMAN, to coming within a couple of points, of making it back there again this year, it's been an extraordinary journey for one of the nicest guys in the sport!

Not getting into the whole politics of the KQ Pro points, it's now over as of this weekend, and they revert back tp a straight-up place qualifying system very similar to what they had in place prior to the introduction of the points system. On that basis - Matt would have for sure got a spot at Kona for this year yesterday at IMMT - Cody not going and Lionel already in!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I totally agree. I got to see him race earlier this year and was impressed with not only his talent, but he seems like a really nice guy.

Sorry, Russel followed and unfollowed me continuously on twitter as a strategy to get to follow him and build followers.
Annoying AF. Had to block him.

people are applauding his amazing comeback from a critical bike crash at the championships...and you come out with that? lol

How do you know it wasn't his crews strategy while he was just out doing his thing?

I haven’t look at the math but maybe he will get a roll-down

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I don't really care about Matt Russell or his story. His social media strategy annoyed me so I tuned out to anything else.

I'm sure he just paid for a bot.

Is it his fault that he's in a fledgling sport and is trying to cultivate a following? Triathlon isn't a lucrative sport to be a pro in unless you're pointy end of the spear, and generating a social media following is a way for this guy to help make a living because it gives value to potential sponsors

I'm twitter illiterate, so there is probably stupidly-obvious answer I don't see.

How is follow / unfollow you, a strategy for him to build followers?

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
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I dont know about twitter but its basically what every brand on instagram does and it kind of works. It may frustrate some users but many people follow back after you have followed them. The unfollow is not necessary but I guess it seems weird when you are a "big shot instagammer" being followed by 50k people and yet you are following half a million users.

There are even bots available and I have created one myself for a client that basically browse instagram for you and then follow relevant users (relevant meaning following brands similar to your brand, using hashtags associated with your business etc.). Many times it is a very cheap way of marketing your brand. Yes, conversion rate is very poor but it is pretty scalable and costs almost nothing.

So on a post clearly meant to give due respect to a guy who came back from a horrific crash, you respond with that shade. Classy.

Yes, because on this forum, threads always follow the narrative set by the original poster and noone disagrees. Are you new here or something?

Not new at all, just pointing out an unnecessarily dickish response. But yes, I know they are often the norm here. Congrats for fitting in.

Per his instagram he was offered and accepted a wild card to Kona.

Tim Don accepted a roll down. They are both going to Kona.

That is fantastic! Bravo Ironman, and bravo Tim Don and Matt Russel who've overcome some incredible challenges this past year.

Awesome news!!! So happy for them both!