“As soon as I shared it with the world, it was a relief. No longer feeling the pressure to perform made it easier to enjoy other things.” Spain’s Ivan Rana officially announces from professional triathlon. In an interview with AS he talks about his decision.
Among Rana’s biggest achievements are two fifth places at the Olympics (2008 and 2000), a 24th place at the 2004 Olympics, the win of the ITU World Championships in 2002, the win of Ironman Cozumel in 2012 and Ironman Austria in 2014, and a sixth place at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii (2013), in which he took part six times in total.
This year wasn’t Rana’s best year and with two DNF’s behind his name, Rana probably didn’t have the final races that he was hoping for, but still… it’s the right time to retire, he’s convinced: “I feel relaxed, like I don’t need to cancel on things that I sometimes wasn’t able to do as a pro triathlete. When I was preparing for Ironman Hawaii, I didn’t take part in other races for five months, there were no other big events, and often I had to leave a dinner with friends early, because I had to train the next morning again. I’m still in a good shape and I try my best, but there are no official races anymore. My family appreciates it… I’m not as strict anymore.”
