Steffen claims podium finish at Ironman 70.3 Auckland

Sunshine Coast-based professional triathlete Caroline Steffen today finished second in the Auckland 70.3

Caroline Steffen finished second in the Auckland 70.3. Picture: Warren Lynam

CAROLINE Steffen has claimed second in Ironman 70.3 Auckland.

The Sunshine Coast-based triathlete from Switzerland finished six minutes behind victor Annabel Luxford of Brisbane, and four minutes ahead of third-place getter Meredith Kessler from the United States. 

It was a solid hit-out for Steffen, who surprisingly made no ground on the eventual victor on the bike after trailing Luxford by less than two minutes in the swim. 

Luxford proved  too strong across all three disciplines, winning in a time of four hours, 19 minutes and  19 seconds. Steffen crossed the line in 4:25:16.

There were some other impressive performances from Sunshine Coast athletes, with Noosa's Jessica Fleming winning her age group in a time of 4:45:36.

Rachael Paxton was 13th overall in 4:49:11.

Alexandra Headland's Joanna Carmen was fourth in her category with an effort of 4:52:59.

The race attracted more than 1000 entrants, with about $90,000 prize purse for the professionals, while the age groupers were competing for the 50 qualifying spots for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas and 30 places for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.

Results, Ironman 70.3 Auckland:

Elite Men: Christian Kemp (Australia) 3:56:02, 1; Bevan Docherty (New Zealand) 3:56:36, 2; Clark Ellice (New Zealand) 3:58:23, 3; Paul Ambrose (UK) 3:59:26, 4; James Hodge (Australia) 4:00:55, 5.

Elite Women: Annabel Luxford (Australia) 4:19:18, 1; Caroline Steffen (Switzerland) 4:25:15, 2; Meredith Kessler (USA) 4:29:24, 3; Sarah Crowley (Australia) 4:32:04, 4; Anna Ross (New Zealand) 4:34:25, 5.