I don’t see any posts on the Melbourne 70.3 which is on at the moment.
I think this might be Hayden’s first step up to this distance?
I just went to track the race now and see he won in a 3:19:30. Looks like the swim must have been shortened but he then rode a 1:56:37 and ran a 1:08.
I don’t know his plans in terms of this distance but nice to see him take the win today.
I’m sure I heard on a podcast his goal was to qualify for 70.3 Worlds next year - I assume mission accomplished with this win.
I just went to track the race now and see he one in a 3:19:30. //
So I guess he now gets the new half ironman world record, nice…
Crazy fast. Pretty good few weeks of racing for Hayden.
Olympic Gold and a couple hundred grand of PTO money could make for a very nice 2024 for Hayden.
I don’t see any posts on the Melbourne 70.3 which is on at the moment.
I think this might be Hayden’s first step up to this distance?
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It is his second 70.3 after placing 3rd at Taupo in 2019.
IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo (2019) Results | SportSplits
He says he really wanted the 70.3 Worlds slot for Taupo 2024 so he can go back to his Olympic prep for next year.
Post Olympics it will be long enough to get ready for a serious crack at winning the World’s in his home town race (he was born in Taupo)
Holy shit!! Very curious on follow up 70.3 races. Big fan of Hayden.
I just went to track the race now and see he one in a 3:19:30. //
So I guess he now gets the new half ironman world record, nice…
I have not heard what the swim issues were, I presume the conditions meant it needed to be shortened, will find out soon from some friends over there what the issues were.
Can you get the WR if the course is shortened??
Like someone else has said, I went to track the race and see how he was going and he is already in!!
Being a Kiwi living in Australia now I do love watching him race and seeing his pretty insane (for a triathlete I guess!!) bike handling skills.
It’s always good to see ITU folks showing us that they can bike equal or better than any 70.3 or IM “uber biker”. It is unfortunate that the draft legal format gives the appearance that the bike is an easy leg.
Got grilled in the ITU thread for saying this but I am still of the opinion that drafting has to go in SC. We made this decision back in the late 90s to make the sport more spectator friendly, but let’s face it…it is not working that well. We can put 40 guys in the Daytona track on TT bikes, it surely can be done in a 4km circuit. Won’t be draft free perfect, but there will be gaps and it will make it more exciting. More importantly, we will unify the fields as there will be no excuses for both SC and LC athletes not to race something like Oly, 100k or 70.3. They could at least try a test event and see how it goes even on road bikes.
Can you get the WR if the course is shortened??//
Well since all the previous records are on short courses, then I dont see why this one doesnt get into the books. SO all a RD has to do is shorten their race a little more and they can advertise world record course too!!!
Swim was 900 meters.
So no, it does not count.
Swim was 900 meters.
So no, it does not count.
So just to clarify you are now the judge.
Short distance but still water no records allowed.
Full distance but down stream ??? Where are we there?
What about if we took the transitions times out of Hamburg? Is that then the fastest course?
Kind of pink???
I think a swim at less than half the normal distance is quite a bit faster compared to a with the current swim. They were swimming in the 11 minute range so definately no record. This is a normally very fast bike and run course also, is k own in Aus if you want a good race time go to Melbourne.
Oh for God’s sakes, can we kill the concept of “world records†in triathlon already?
Even Ironman, with its tendency to overhype things, uses the term “world’s best time†and does so with a wink.
There are no formal world records and also no reason whatsoever to get excited about a time on course A being faster than a time on course B.
Says he slowed down at 10k seeing the gap and then shut it down at 15k when his legs got sore, lol. So what could’ve he run?
Race recap video
It is his second 70.3 after placing 3rd at Taupo in 2019.
IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo (2019) Results | SportSplits
He says he really wanted the 70.3 Worlds slot for Taupo 2024 so he can go back to his Olympic prep for next year.
Post Olympics it will be long enough to get ready for a serious crack at winning the World’s in his home town race (he was born in Taupo)I assume he might race Bahrain next month ‘for fun’ - as will Watkinson. The women’s race was far more interesting: the highlight being her late catch over an SC athlete.
Oh for God’s sakes, can we kill the concept of “world records†in triathlon already?
Even Ironman, with its tendency to overhype things, uses the term “world’s best time†and does so with a wink.
There are no formal world records and also no reason whatsoever to get excited about a time on course A being faster than a time on course B.
Yup I agree.
I think what’s most interesting is he won by 8 minutes, that’s pretty big. Not the strongest field but Aus isn’t a weak group of athletes, McKenna was there. Seems he could have won by 1 minute if he wanted to but just went for it. I also expected him to falter at some point, not lose the lead but slow down a lot. He didn’t. I think second place got a few seconds at the end but he was multiple timing mats ahead by then
Says he slowed down at 10k seeing the gap and then shut it down at 15k when his legs got sore, lol. So what could’ve he run?
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I said a few months ago that the standard of post Olympic ,70.3 races is going to go through the roof and this race is just an indication of that. Some of the old favorites are going to find it very hard to compete with the new crop come Taupo at the end of next year
You vastly overstate my power on the matter. (and, for what it’s worth, I agree with the whole “kill the world best time” POV – it’s so course / conditions dependent that it’s not a good measure).
Just relaying what IM said itself about it.