Sweet win earns Liz Blatchford spot at Hawaii ironwoman triathlon
IRONMAN triathlete Liz Blatchford has managed to qualify herself for a day of the worst pain she is ever likely to experience and she couldn’t be happier.
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TRIATHLETE Liz Blatchford has managed to qualify herself for a day of the worst pain she is ever likely to experience and she couldn’t be happier.
Returning from a time out for the birth of daughter Mahli last year and a recent back injury, Blatchford on Monday raced to victory in the at Ironman Mont-Tremblant to confirm her spot at the Hawaii ironman world championships in October.
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The annual race involving a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run is traditionally run in seeing heat and wild winds and is regarded as the toughest multi-endurance race in the world.
Blatchford, a former star of Olympic triathlon, owns two bronze medals from the 2013 and 2015 races.
After her win in Canada which she described as “incredibly sweet’’ and unexpected, Blatchford now has the opportunity to race for a third medal.
Blatchford went into the final run leg trailing early leader Lauren Brandon by more than five minutes.
But the Australian was able to overtake American Meredith Keller and the Brandon for the ironwoman victory in Quebec.
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Blatchford finished in 9hrs 16min 45 sec with Meredith Hill from Australia fourth in the race in 9:37:04.
The win followed on from Blatchford also taking victories in Ironman Philippines and the Busselton 70.3 race.