Oscar Galindez and Michellie Jones added to their extensive list of Ironman wins with impressive victories at Ironman 70.3 Cancun yesterday. Jones led from start to finish, while Galindez was close to the front by the end of the bike and ran his way to the title over Paul Ambrose.
Galindez reclaimed the title he won two years ago, while Jones managed to finish what she had started last year – after leading for much of the day she had to pull out with a calf injury.
Australia’s Stephen Hackett led out of the water, closely followed by countryman Paul Mathews, who must have been feeling a bit tired after his third place finish at the challenging Subaru Ironman 70.3 Muskoka race just a week before, where he finished third behind Craig Alexander and Richie Cunningham. Hackett would hold his lead off the bike ahead of Mathews, but would eventually fade to fourth. Mathews dropped out of the race after the bike, as did another pre-race favorite, Luke Bell. Galindez used the fastest run split of the day to run his way to the win.
No one challenged Jones as she posted the fastest splits for the swim and the run (Brazil’s Sandra Soldan rode a few seconds faster than the former Ford Ironman World Champion). Germany’s Daniela Sommler had a consistent race – after coming out of the water in sixth, she moved up to third by the end of the bike and then ran her way to second ahead of Australia’s Katherine Elisabeth Baker.
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Ironman 70.3 Cancun
Cancun, Quintana Roo, México – Sept. 20, 2009
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run
Men
1. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 4:10:22
2. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 4:15:22
3. Igor Amorelli Fonseca (BRA) 4:18:43
4. Stephen Hackett (AUS) 4:20:26
5. Balazs Csoke (HUN) 4:28:07
Women
1. Michellie Jones (AUS) 4:41:48
2. Daniela Sommler (GER) 4:53:33
3. Katherine Elisabeth Baker (AUS) 4:55:54
4. Julianna Batizy-Morley (USA) 5:00:27
5. Dunia Gomez Tirado (MEX) 5:05:53