Ireland’s Eimear Mullan was rewarded for her tenacity to win IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen in China, two years since she last raced in an IRONMAN event. Mullan, who was out with significant injuries in 2016, has coached herself this year as she worked back into the sport based at the Thanyapura Centre in Thailand and in Scotland. It came down to the running legs, as her 1:24 effort was just enough to sprint off Switzerland’s Imogen Simmonds for the win by 100m. It was Mullan’s fourth win, her last coming in Budapest in 2015.
Swim leader Haley Chura (ISA) was third, after she was caught late in the bike, with compatriot Sarah Cameto fourth, fading with a 1:34 run following the day’s best bike split of 2:20:09.Australia’s Sam Betten scored a breakthrough win in the men, with a sprint final also deciding the fortunes when he pushed away from American Justin Metzler 500m from the finish. The pair shared a four-way lead out of the water, before German Johannes Moldan produced a stunning 2:02 bike to join the fray, along with American Jonathan Shearon.
On a hot day it came down to running legs with Betten’s 1:18 proving the key to victory in 3:53:30, ahead of Metzler’s 1:19 run, with Shearon holding on for third.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Sam Betten AUS 3:53:30
2 Justin Metzler USA 3:53:45
3 Jonathan Shearon USA 3:55:01
4 Filipe Azevedo UAE 3:58:44
5 Johannes Moldan GER 3:59:23
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Mullan, Eimear IRL 4:14:22
2 Imogen Simmonds, Imogen SUI 4:14:34
3 Chura, Haley USA 4:18:28
4 Cameto, Sarah USA 4:24:10
5 Juhart, Monica AUS 4:28:19