Ribiero, Monforte Win Ultraman World Championships
Alexandre Ribiero and Amber Monforte won the 28th edition of the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii.
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Alexandre Ribiero and Amber Monforte won the 28th edition of the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii. It was the sixth Ultraman World Champ title for Ribiero, 47, a coach from Brazil, and the third for Monforte, 34, a registered nurse from Reno, Nev. who holds the women’s course record.
Day One: 6.2-mile swim and 90-mile bike
A strong current made this year’s swim extremely difficult. Ribiero swam nearly half an hour slower than last year, exiting the water in 3:13:56. He followed that up with a 5:14:57 bike for a total time of 8:28:53 to lead the race on day one. Monforte swam a 3:31:31 and biked 5:36:05 for a total day one time of 9:07:36, which put her in second place to Kathy Winkler, 46, going into day two.
Day Two: 171.4-mile bike
Ribiero took charge again on day two, completing the challenging bike course—it has 8,600 feet of climbing—in 7:36:55, nearly 15 minutes ahead of second-place finisher, Miro Kregar. Monforte took over the women’s lead, blazing through the bike course in 8:09:27, putting her more than 30 minutes ahead of Winkler in the overall standings following day two.
Day Three: 52.4-mile run
Ribiero commanded day three as well, running the double marathon in 6:45:24 to take the day three win and the overall Ultraman World Champ title with a total time of 22:51:12. Monforte’s strong day two bike gave her the lead she needed to win the overall women’s title in 25:29:09, despite running nearly 40 minutes slower than the women’s double marathon winner, Yasuko Miyazaki, 35, who completed the run in 7:32:12. Monforte was also the third finisher overall out of 27.