In a race in which everything changed constantly, Kylie Simpson’s come-from-behind performance stood out – she made up an almost twenty-minute gap during the marathon, moving up five positions to take the overall victory. That meant spectators were treated to a wonderful Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns. Simpson won after 9:06:35.
During the swim, it was Rebecca Clarke who turned out to be the fastest: finishing the swim in 48:57, more than a minute and a half ahead of her first pursuers. On the bike that lead disappeared like snow in the sun, however, and Chloe Lane and Amelia Watkinson, among others, took over at the front.
It was the latter – Watkinson – who, after having biked together for100 km, went on a solo adventure and rode away from the rest of the field. After gaining one and a half minutes, she lost it all in the final phase of the bike, though, and Renee Kiley ended up first into T2. Lane followed at 21 seconds, with Watkinson more than two minutes behind. Kylie Simpson followed at 19 minutes in sixth position, seemingly out of the hunt for the win.
Simpson began an unprecedented charge for the front, running incredibly hard towards the front. Halfway through the marathon, she had already made up 10 minutes, and ten kilometers later she had taken the lead in the race, on her way to surprising herself with an unprecedented win. She eventually did just that by finishing in 9:06:35. Watkinson took the silver, more than three minutes behind with a finish time of 9:09:53. Lane took third in 9:14:00.
