Coolangatta Gold results: Ironwoman Lizzie Welborn wins after original event a COVID casualty
Top Australian ironwoman Lizzie Welborn won a modified Coolangatta Gold at Wanda on the weekend but that is not what left her smiling.
Manly
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She was tired and wet but still smiling.
In fact top ironwoman Lizzie Welborn couldn’t believe her luck.
“It’s just so great to be racing again,” said the Newport surf lifesaver who took out the open women’s category at a modified Coolangatta Gold in the Sutherland Shire on the weekend.
“It is so cool. I haven’t raced for seven months and I’m stoked to be racing again.
“I feel very lucky to be racing in these times. I think we all do.”
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The actual Coolangatta Gold, the race made famous by the movie of the same name, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Surf live saving officials scrambled to see what they could do to give their members something to race with two modified events created at Wanda and Alexandra Headland in Queensland.
The 25km race at Bate Bay in the Sutherland Sire attracted 315 competitors in both individual and team events in various age categories.
Despite not racing for seven months when all local events were cancelled during the pandemic, Welborn won the elite women’s from Emily Doyle, also a member of Newport.
Local Wanda athlete Carla Papac was third.
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It is hoped the elite Nutri-Grain ironwoman and ironman series will still go ahead this season although dates and venues are still to be confirmed.
It is also hoped the Australian surf lifesaving are championships, which regularly attract 5000 plus competitors, will also be raced in 2021.
The Aussies, slated to be held on the Gold Coast from April 18-16, 2020, were one of the first sporting casualties of COVID-19 when cancelled back in March.
At the time public gatherings of more than 500 people were cancelled. Later these restrictions increased with board is shut and athletes not allowed to train in groups.