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Gqeberha Welcomes Athletes To 18th Isuzu Ironman® African Championship Event

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NELSON MANDELA BAY, South Africa. (February 28, 2023) – This Sunday, over 2,000 athletes will line up at Hobie Beach in Nelson Mandela Bay, ready to race in the 18th edition of the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship and the 2nd edition of the ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay. 

ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship has taken place in Nelson Mandela Bay since 2005, and each year welcomes a strong International professional field, all with the aim of battling it out for the title of African Champion and a piece of the $150,000 USD prize pot.

In addition to the pro line up, Nelson Mandela Bay will welcome athletes from 52 different countries across both races, with a quarter of the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship field made up of international athletes, flying in from the likes of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and United State. Cementing the city as iconic and ‘bucket list’ triathlon destination.

This year also marks the second ever ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay, which launched last year in response to the growing triathlon culture in South Africa. With the ISUZU Corporate Triathlon Challenge powered by Algoa FM taking place the day before, this is set to be an exciting festival weekend of racing.

Athletes:

Once again, the South African event will set the tone for the rest of the season with a strong professional lineup expected to take to the start line in Nelson Mandela Bay. The professional field features two-time Olympic Games gold medalist, Alistair Brownlee, who will be racing the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship for the first time. However, Brownlee is no stranger to the Nelson Mandela Bay racecourse having raced there in 2018 when he narrowly lost to Jan Frodeno (GER) and picked up a second-place podium finish at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. The professional men’s field will also feature Leon Chevalier (FRA), Clément Mignon (FRA), Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) and one of the fastest professional cyclists, Cameron Wurf (AUS). In the absence of defending champion, Kyle Buckingham (RSA), fellow South Africans Bradley Weiss (RSA) and Matt Trautman (RSA) who took second and third places respectively last year will surely be looking for a home win this year.

The women’s field may be smaller but promises to be just as exciting. With the absence of defending champion Daniela Bleymehl (GER), a new champion will be crowned. Laura Philipp (GER) is coming off a memorable season last year which saw her produce an IRONMAN world best time of 8:18:20, winning the 2022 IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany. However, she won’t have it all that easy with Magda Nieuwoudt (RSA) being very familiar with the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship racecourse and having podiumed at the event last year. The women’s field will also feature the likes of Fenella Langridge (GBR) who will fancy her chances as the course has been kind to British athletes, with both Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) [2018; 2019] and Ruth Astle (GBR) [2001] having won here in recent times. Other athletes to lookout for are Giorgia Priarone (ITA), Jade Roberts (RSA), Penny Slater (AUS) and Laura Zimmermann (GER).

The top four professional men and women will secure slots to the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France (10 September), and Kailua-Kona (14 October) respectively.

A further 919 age-group athletes will also be racing with the hope of securing one of the coveted age-group slots to their respective VinFast IRONMAN World Championship race. Amongst these age-groupers, will be seven athletes who will be completing their 18th IRONMAN South Africa event. This mean, these athletes have raced every single IRONMAN South Africa in Nelson Mandela Bay, leading them to be collectively coined by locals as ‘IRONMAN Legends’. ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay is an age-group only race, which means amateur athletes will have the opportunity to be crowned champion. 1,383 age group athletes in total will toe the line in a bid to grab a qualification slot for 2023 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Lahti, Finland (men and women) on August 26 –27.

Key stats:

  • 20% of the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship field are women, and 31% of the ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay are women.
  • 7% of ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship athletes and 2% of ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay are Nelson Mandela Bay based.
  • Gauteng has the highest representation, with 26% of athletes coming from Gauteng. Followed by the Western Cape (14%), Eastern Cape (9%), KwaZulu Natal (3%) and Free State (2%).
  • More than half the field (53%) are first timers to ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship, and 25% are IRONMAN first timers
  • 52 countries will be represented at the ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship

Race timings and course details:

The PRO men will start their race at 06:10 (SAST) and PRO women will start at 06:15 (SAST).

The event returns to the original swim course venue, where athletes will take on a 3.8km swim at Hobie Beach, followed by a 180.2km bike on arguably one of the most spectacular bike courses on the IRONMAN world circuit. The run will take athletes along the beach fronts of Summerstrand and Humewood to Flat Rocks. Athletes will complete a 42.2km run before heading down the magic red carpet to the finish line.

The ISUZU IRONMAN 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay will also be taking place on the same day and athletes will take on the same course, however, completing half the distance. This will be an age-group only race and athletes will swim 1.9km’s at Hobie Beach; bike 90.1km’s and run 21.1km’s before finishing on the red carpet at Hobie Beach.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.