Luxembourg’s Olivier Godart celebrates after winning the Ironman 70.3 Colombo triathlon in the Sri Lankan capital yesterday.
COLOMBO: Luxembourg’s Olivier Godart and Ling Er Choo of Singapore stole the limelight in the Ironman 70.3 Colombo event which concluded at the Galle Face Green here yesterday.
The flat and fast course through the bustling Colombo city, was enjoyed by both the participants and spectators, with the races which began at 6.15am in the morning.
In the men’s section, Godart (40-44 age group category) defended his title that he won last year in Colombo by winning the men’s event yesterday, followed by Australia’s Tim Ballintine and Pierre Lafayeedney of United Kingdom who finished second and third respectively.
In the women’s division, Choo (30-34) finished on the top for the second successive year with Kimberly Mckinney of Australia and Inge Prasetyo of Indonesia clinching the second and third places respectively.
The event in the Sri Lankan capital brought together 775 participants from 58 countries.
The race began with a 1.9km sea swim at the Galle Face, followed by a 90km three-loop ride through the Colombo Port, Colombo Fort Area and the Marine Drive and finishing with a two-loop half marathon which ran through the Colombo Port and ended at the Galle Face Green.
SriLankan Airlines, the national airline of Sri Lanka, flew the cream of the world’s toughest athletes, who competed in Ironman 70.3 Colombo.
The triathletes who took up the gauntlet of the waves and terrain comprised professionals from triathlon’s top layer, aspiring amateurs and those who looking for stiffer challenges and a chance in the international spotlight.
As an added bonus, 40 of the top finishers this year will get a shot at the ironman 70.3 world championships, which will be held in Nice, France later this year.
The top five participating countries were India with 94 triathletes, Great Britain with 55, Australia with 40, France with 34 and Japan with 24. Some of the other nations that will be represented at the triathlon are USA, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Russia, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
SriLankan Airlines’ participation as the Official Airline Partner of the event is designed to promote Sri Lankan as a preferred host venue for international sporting events and by positioning Colombo as the destination of choice for iconic sporting events.
