Catch up on British success across middle-distance…

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IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain

British women were dominant in Bahrain over the weekend, occupying seven of the top ten places on a flat and fast course that delivered exhilarating middle-distance racing.

Holly Lawrence reclaimed the title for the third consecutive time, finishing in 03:52:51 to beat her previous winning time by almost seven minutes.

Finishing two and a half minutes after Lawrence, Jodie Stimpson raced alongside the victor for a large portion of the race and led the run until the last 5km. Stimpson took home a well-fought silver medal on her IRONMAN 70.3 debut.

Claire Hann rounded out an all-British podium, challenging Stimpson for the silver, Hann crossed the line twenty-two seconds after the two-time Commonwealth champion.

Lucy Hall took 4^th place following an impressive swim (00:23:06) saw her enter the first transition in 1^st place. Hall maintained a fast pace and stayed close to the leaders throughout the race, managing to fend off Brazilian Pamella Oliveira to secure 4^th place.

India Lee was the first women to transition off the bike. She crossed the finish line in a time of 04:02:20 to achieve a 6^th place finish, just two minutes out of the top five.

The last two Britons to occupy the top ten in the Middle East are Frankie Sanjana and Elle Twentyman who finished 8^th and 9^th respectively.

Mark Buckingham was the fastest of the British men, finishing in 4^th place (03:35:44), just two and a half minutes away from podium pace. Being the ninth man to leave the water and the seventh to transition off the bike, Buckingham raced on the front foot throughout the contest.

Philip Graves led the race during part of the bike leg and was chased by the likes of Daniel Bækkegård (DEN) and Casper Stornes (NOR) before finishing in 11^th.

Ian Dempsey raced to a 16^th place finish, crossing the line in 03:52:27.

Age group athletes also put in commanding performances for Britain, Tom Walker took the top spot in the M25-29 division. Additionally, Michael Gallacher raced to a 1^st place finish in M45-49, whilst Samuel Westhead also took 1^st place in M50-54.

Lottie Lucas took 1^st place in the F25-29 division and Nicola Boyd achieved the same result in F35-39.

Joseph Maynard finished 2^nd in the M30-34 division and 25^th overall. The same division saw Ben Terry take 3^rd place.

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IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo

Britain’s fastest athlete in New Zealand was Matthew Brown, who crossed the line in 04:16:59 to achieve 2^nd place in the M30-34 division. Rebecca Campbell (F35-39) also achieved 2^nd place, as she became the 28^th women to cross the line.

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Photo Credit: Darren Wheeler