The back-to-back champion, Sam Long defended his title at IRONMAN 70.3 St. George this weekend with a mind-blowing performance to continue a phenomenal run of form this season.
The 28-year-old, who has five podiums from five races so far in 2024, and has only been beaten by Magnus Ditlev, Lionel Sanders and Youri Keulen, was a class above the rest in Utah over the middle distance on Saturday.
Winning his first race of the IRONMAN Pro Series, Long consolidated his spot amongst the best in the world right now and looks near unbeatable after a seventh straight podium.
Swim – Quenet takes charge
South African Nicholas Quenet led out of the water in St. George, as the 27-year-old split 22:46 for the 1900m swim to enter transition just ahead of German Magnus Manner and ten seconds up on Marc “The Shark” Dubrick.
In the first chase pack, veterans such as Justin Metzler and Antony Costes had a deficit of around +0:40, with some rookies for company, as further back two pre-race contenders Rob Wilkiowiecki and Justin Riele were out at +1:11.
Amongst the other big names, Jackson Laundry split 25:22 for the second year in a row, as the Canadian exited the swim +2:36 down in 26th, with Long swimming over half a minute slower than 2023 and starting the bike with a +3:17 deficit.
Bike – Long shows his class
Out on the bike course, it quickly became a question of when Long would make it to the front, as he immediately started to claw back his deficit and by the second timing mat had halved his gap to Manner, Quenet, Costes and Maximillian Sperl up front.
Blowing through the field over the first hour on the bike, the Boulder native was within sight of the front pack by the 25.6 mile checkpoint and by the halfway mark, had made his way to the pointy end of the race and dropped everyone but Sperl.
After urging Sperl to take more turns at the front, Long lost patience and over the closing stages of the bike, promptly dropped the German and made his way into transition alone, with a +0:51 lead starting the run.
Behind Long and Sperl, the devastation of the American’s sub-2 hour bike split was evident, with Quenet third into T2 more than three minutes down, and top pros such as Laundry, Dubrick and Dane Miki Taagholt over five minutes back.
Run – Course record and crown consolidation
Dominating on the run, Long had nobody nearby to challenge him, but continued to push the pace, with the course record potentially up for grabs.
Consolidating his lead over Sperl in second, Long was +3:24 ahead of his one-time bike companion through the halfway mark, with Ben Hamilton of New Zealand chasing down Quenet in third place alongside Frenchman Costes.
Over the second half of the run, Long continued to squeeze everything out of himself, and by the finishing chute had doubled the gap back to Hamilton, who had moved into second, as the American crushed the course record with a 1:10:46 run split.
Finishing in a time of 3:39:17, Long was almost four minutes quicker than last year, and continued his brilliant run of form, with seven podiums stretching back to IRONMAN Maryland in September 2023.
In second place, Hamilton made the trip over from New Zealand worthwhile, as he backed up his third place finish at IRONMAN New Zealand. In third, Costes managed to pass Quenet in the closing stages and hold off a fast finishing Laundry.
IRONMAN 70.3 St. George 2024 Results
Pro Men
Saturday May 4, 2024 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
1. Sam Long (USA) – 3:39:17
2. Ben Hamilton (NZL) – 3:46:52
3. Antony Costes (FRA) – 3:48:19
4. Jackson Laundry (CAN) – 3:48:22
5. Nicholas Quenet (RSA) – 3:48:49
6. Michael Weiss (AUT) – 3:51:38
7. Maximillian Sperl (GER) – 3:51:38
8. Marc Dubrick (USA) – 3:53:31
9. Justin Riele (USA) – 3:54:22
10. Robert Wilkiowiecki (POL) – 3:54:55
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