'The race (biggest in the southern hemisphere)'

Interested in what you mean by that? Busso 70.3 hardly a big race. Biggest in WA?

hardly a big race?!?
have you ever done it?

I'm not sure how its measured but it is something that is regularly boasted in the event promotion and has been for years. I assumed it was most competitors but I'm not sure.

It was the windiest race I had ever done. I had an Aeolus 7 on the front and couldn’t lay my hands up over each other on the bars, actually had to hold the tri bars. So many just holding the bull horns. So many were struggling with older deep wheels too that were being blown around.
I wonder how Liz feels being awarded the win. Em was fantastic good to see a local freo girl take the win!

I think the event promoters might be 'guilding the lilly' a little with that claim. It's not the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

.....and down in Australia we missed out on a race that was a short draft fest that had you guys moaning on here for weeks and resulted in ratified "Brand" world record (WTF is that anyway?)

yeah you missed a world-class performance but never mind, go back to your self-centred (yep, that's the correct spelling) world view and see how many kona champions you've produced in the last 2 decades

Had she won legit, she's still only the second biggest female 70.3 breakthrough in the Commonwealth this weekend, with Paula Findlay winning St George against Kessler, Kaye, Wurtele, True, McQuaid, and all...

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I was born 30 min from Busselton so I am well aware of the race. Numbers may be high as there are two Ironman races in WA a year but based on the depth of pro fields I wouldn't call it a big race. I'm taking nothing away from her ability and achievement but found your boasting of it being a the biggest in the southern hemisphere a bit of an exaggeration.

Bozzone had a cracker biked 1:58 record in that weather and gapped the field by 10mins into t2. He had had a great season

Agreed, until she wins something real, don’t be touting her as the next Chrissie. So are you too dating? Pic of her on your training wall? What’s the connection?

This is where triathlon rules are screwed up. When athletes follow the instructions of designated course officials, then get DQd because the race officials made a mistake, not them, that is complete horseshit. Then they turn around and blame the athletes for not following the designated course and tell them it's their responsibility to know the course, yadda, yadda, yadda. So did the race director turn in his resignation? Did Ironman issue an apology for improperly instructing the bike official? Doubtful.

Busselton 70.3 promotes itself as the biggest 70.3 in the Southern hemisphere. There are usually 1700+ individuals and 400+ team members.

So in terms of size of the AG field it is the biggest 70.3 in the Southern hemisphere.

There are always two sides to a story:
"The girls turned 100m short of the far end of the run course ,despite being able to see the turn as it was marked with cones timing mats cameras and barriers.
The lead cyclist turned early to get out of their way and they followed him.They were told to go back but ignored the instructions.
Nobody else including torrenzo who was well in front of them made the same mistake and his lead cyclist did the same.
You could see the bloddy turn from where they were. "

That is very important information that was not conveyed above. Yep, I would have to agree they should have been DQd. And knowing this, the 4th place women moved to 1st has no reason to feel bad.

Slowtwitch : where you can get your daily slice of bullying pie for breakfast.

which would be Liz Blatchford pocketing a cool 25k for 4th!

So she’s a cheater as well? Yikes

Per Ironman rules the lead bikes aren't supposed to be lead bikes anymore... they are supposed to stay behind the athletes.

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Yeah it was pretty windy. I don't know why, but I've never had a problem in the wind with deep dish wheels. 72kg, riding a disc and 808 at the front. There was only a small 3km section on layman road where there was an open cross-wind that I got any movement and even that was marginal.

Wow, tough crowd. I'll think twice before posting in this forum in future. But I do feel compelled (no idea why) to set a few things straight before I sit this one out;


1. The only point I was making is that Emily had a good pro debut and might be one to watch in the future. I thought we were interested in form guides here. Not for a second am I suggesting she is the next Chrissy. Remember, the overall AG world champ from 2016, took everyone by surprise by coming second in kona 2017. There was a whole thread on here about the male AG winner post kona.

2. I couldn't really care less if busso really is the biggest race in the southern hemisphere or not. It's the race promoter's words and I accepted it. Just mentioned it to highlight that this wasn't just a local car park gathering.

3. It's amazing how being ill-informed doesn't stop people from posting. I happen to know the lead cyclists of both the men's and women's race. They were both kids - a 15 and 16 yr old who are the respective national triathlon champions in their age groups (I guess race organisers thought they had enough experience being elite triathletes themselves). The male cyclist said he very nearly made the same mistake as there was a cul-de-sac at the end of the path with three large cones which made it look like the turning point - you could NOT see the actual turn from that point due to the lie of the land. The lead cyclist from the women's race was a girl - so even that part of the statement "followed him" was blatantly wrong. Facts still matter in most parts of the world.

4. Did I mention this all totally misses the point - she had an impressive, competitive debut.

5. Her FB page post-race reads: "It wasn’t quite the fairytale finish I had hoped for. It is with great respect for the race rules and technical officials that I acknowledge today’s outcome. I am disappointed but I have taken so much positivity from today’s performance." I'm pretty sure you were only joking but be very careful before labeling someone a cheater.

6. Yeah, I'm a guy who has a lot of positives to say about a girl, so we must be dating right? Emily is a close friend and training buddy who is a bloody impressive athlete. Just giving her the kudos she deserves. There is a photo of her on my FB page (trolls) because we've teamed up as a mixed pair in Swimrun racing.

It certainly seems like that would have prevented the problem. Not a great week for Ironman.

As misleading as it may have been regardless it is up to the athlete to know the course.

I definitely agree with that. And even if the natural tendency is to blindly follow the bike, surely experienced triathletes would find it odd to do a u-turn where there was no cone or timing mat.

High profile and iconic perhaps? I can't think of a better swim than round the jetty on a clear, flat day.