Two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion and reigning Kona winner Gustav Iden finished his first race in almost a year last weekend, as the Norwegian clinched fourth place at IRONMAN 70.3 Warsaw.
Teammates Casper Stornes and Solveig Lovseth took the wins, with Iden finishing 11 minutes behind his compatriot and four minutes off third place finisher Kacper Stepniak.
Taking to Instagram earlier this week, the PTO World #592 shared his delight to be back on the road to the top, after experiencing multiple setbacks over the past 12 months.
“Thank you for all the support”
Posting on @gustav_iden the Bergen native stated his gratitude to have made it to the finish line, after not finishing in his first race of the year at IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca in May.
“Finisher 🤝 @ironmanpoland 70.3. Thank you for all the support coming back to racing after a really, really tough year. Grateful to reach the finish line here, but also kinda scared when I see how far it is back to the top level again.
“Need to remember that this was the longest I’ve run since my injury, and from my training base the performance was actually quite good. Now to altitude to keep on building. Again, super thankful for all your support!”
Road to redemption
Less than two years ago, Iden was a two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion gunning for a third straight victory in St. George, off the back of a record breaking performance at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
Since then, a combination of bad luck, injury, and tragedy in his personal life has seen the Norwegian struggle immensely, but his result in Warsaw was a sign that things are once more trending in the right direction.
Anyone who follows the sport will know that counting Iden out is a massive mistake. With time and patience, he will be back competing at the top level, likely alongside his teammate Kristian Blummenfelt, who is set to defend his Olympic title in Paris next month.
In the meantime, Iden has plenty of racing options as he aims to validate his slot at the IRONMAN World Championship in October, with racing opportunities in the next month in Europe including IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne and IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz.
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