Great Britain’s Katrina Matthews stepped up her preparations for the delayed 2021 IRONMAN World Championships with victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote on Saturday (19 March), where she was joined on the podium by Olympic gold medallist Jess Learmonth.
Closer to home, the first British champions were crowned at the British Standard Distance Duathlon Championships at Oulton Park, the same venue where a qualifying event for the Great Britain Age-Group Team was held.
IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote
Matthews, who finished fourth at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship last year, began her 2022 season in Lanzarote and topped the podium with a winning time of 4:17:46, more than three minutes ahead of reigning IRONMAN world champion Anne Haug of Germany.
Learmonth was third in her first 70.3 start and led the race after the swim, with fellow British triathlete Lucy Buckingham close behind, as they used their swimming strength to build an advantage of three minutes over a chasing trio of Matthews, Haug and France’s Marjolaine Pierre.
Matthews made her move on the bike, pulling clear of Haug before catching and passing Buckingham and then Learmonth around the halfway mark of the 90km bike. Matthews built an advantage of over three-and-a-half-minutes over Learmonth as she headed onto the 21.1km run with Haug a further two minutes back behind Learmonth.
Matthews followed-up her bike with a strong run, and, while Haug moved past Learmonth and did narrow the lead of Matthews, the winning margin for the British Army physiotherapist was still over three minutes having crossed the line in 4:17:46.
With Haug second, Learmonth completed the podium with an overall time of 4:23:44 in her first event across the format. Lucy Buckingham (4:33:20) was next to cross the line in fourth, while Lydia Dant (4:39:53) was seventh to make it four British athletes in the top-seven.
Morgan Davies (4:19:57) was the highest placed British athlete in the men’s pro race, finishing 31st, with Colin Norris (4:23:01) three minutes further back in 33rd.
Results: IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote
2022 British Standard Distance Duathlon Championships
Matthew Nelson and Joanna Paterson were the leading male and female athletes as 24 British champions were crowned at the 2022 British Standard Distance Duathlon Championships.
Returning to its usual early season slot in 2022, the first British Championships of the year saw 217 athletes, ranging from the ages of 18 to 74, compete for the British title and medals in each age group at Oulton Park.
The battle for overall victory came down to the last lap in the men’s race with Nelson making his move on the final 4.3km run to beat last year’s winner Ben Goodfellow, who secured the British title in the M25-29 age group.
Joanna Patterson was the top female athlete and the new British champion in the F30-34 age group, finishing in a time of 1:52:42, two minutes ahead of second-placed Anna Birrell, who won gold in the F20-24 category.
Results: 2022 British Standard Distance Duathlon Championships
2023 World Championship Sprint Distance Duathlon Qualifier (Oulton Park)
Ahead of the British Standard Distance Duathlon Championships, the morning’s sprint distance duathlon event at Oulton Park was an opportunity to qualify for the Great Britain Age-Group team for the 2023 World Sprint Distance Duathlon Championships (for those who had registered intent to qualify).
Simon Davis (00:59:06) and Alice Godding (01:11:11) were the quickest male and female athletes over the 4.3km run, 21.6km bike and final 4.3km run.
