There will be a strong British presence at the penultimate Ironman 70.3 event of 2023, to be held in Bahrain on Friday 8th December, including young short course stars taking their big step into the unknown. will show.
Two-time Olympic champion leads the field alistair brownleereturned from an injury break and competed in three races over consecutive weekends in October, finishing on the podium in two of those races, Challenge Barcelona and Challenge Mallorca.
We hear that he is currently intending to race and will be one of several competitors from the Bahrain Victorious team, along with Henri Schoeman (RSA). cat matthews (UK), Amelia Watkinson (New Zealand) and others are scheduled to appear.
Lee and Buckingham join Matthews
Matthews, ranked sixth in the world, wants to put the disappointing Ironman World Championships in Kona behind him and has announced that he will include the Middle East Championships in Bahrain on his schedule.
Her fellow Brit Ruth Astle is also on the start list, but due to frustration and a flare-up of an ongoing Achilles tendon issue at the last Ironman Cozumel, her season is over and she is now fully retired in 2024. He said he is focused on regaining his fitness.
but india leeRanked #15, she is set to hit the ground running after an impressive 2nd place finish at the recent Ironman Florida, and we will be featuring an in-depth interview with her before the Bahrain race.
And Britain’s strong female force will likely be further boosted by: lucy buckinghamhas won two Ironman 70.3 races in Warsaw and Knokke-Heist this season, the latter being one of the best finishes of the 2023 season.
Super League star players step up
There are also some interesting names in the men’s team who are at the opposite end of the spectrum in experience to Alistair Brownlee.
for both Max Stapley and Dan Dixon They are well known for their short course exploits.
However, Stayplay last won the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand over a slightly longer distance: 1.8km swim, 55km bike, and 12km run.
Bahrain will be stepping up further, but both have enjoyed progressive campaigns and we spoke to Dixon to gauge his thoughts ahead of the race.
he told us: “It’s going to be quite a challenge for me. Not only is the field a lot deeper than last year, but there are a lot more players on the start list.
“The quality is very high and I’m very excited to have my name on there. From my point of view, I think it’s hard to ignore Alistair, but I hope he starts. .
“It might be one of the few chances I get to race with him and that would be great because he’s been my idol for a long time as well as Johnny so racing both of them is something I’ve always wanted to do. And if he’s there, I hope I can give him a little race too!
Top 5 goals
“I really wanted to do this race and I approached my coach with the idea and he was happy to do it. “Obviously it’s a quick turnaround after the World Triathlon season, but this year It ticked the boxes that we needed especially heading into the race’ back end, so we’re happy with how we were able to put it together.
“And now I am working on what can be called an experimental project at 70.3 Bahrain. I’ve been really lucky to have great partners and people, and it’s a little different ball game than I’m used to.
I’ve had some really good training leading up to it, and it’s given me an indication of what I think I’m capable of.
“That’s going to be a pretty big claim, but I think a top five would be a really solid result, and on a perfect day I think it’s within reach. At the end of the day, this is an experiment and , another opportunity to learn and hopefully set a good standard for the future.”