Triathlon: An Iron Grip

Published: May 2, 2004

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Triathlon: An Iron Grip
By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard)

The Ironman World Championship didn’t appear to have much going for it. Mike Pigg, the short-course maestro, decided to skip the October 19 race and a confrontation with defending champion Mark Allen in favor of the World Olympic Distance Championship in Southport, Queensland, Australia. Pigg, who hasn’t had much luck in the Ironman, had even less luck on the Gold Coast as he
finished behind 20-year-old Australian hotshot Miles Stewart. A week later in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Allen seemed to be facing a similar fate. He was fifth after the bike leg, with German Wolfgang Dittrich in front, and also trailed Australian Greg Welch, a strong runner. But Allen passed Dittrich early and ran with Welch until the halfway mark, at which point he dropped him, too.
When Allen crossed the finish line first in 8:18:32, he tied Dave Scott for a record three straight Ironman wins. Welch was the runner-up six minutes back. In the Women’s race, Paula Newby-Fraser finished in 9:07:52, routing defending champion Erin Baker by more than 16 minutes.

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