“My Ironman debut yesterday didn’t disappoint.” And that’s even an understatement, because with a second place and a sub-8 finish time, Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev pulled off an amazing performance at Ironman Texas. It was an exciting race until the very end, because only in the final 100 meters, America’s Ben Hoffman out sprinted Ditlev. The two had run side by side for the final 10 km of the marathon. “I’ve always been told that Ironman is a long day and everything can happen if you keep digging until the end, which couldn’t be more true for my race yesterday”, Ditlev commented.
It definitely wasn’t all ups and highlights for him, though, because for a little it seemed like Ditlev’s entire race was going to be ruined by a flat tire. “With five km to go on the bike, I got a huge cut in my front tire while leading the race, forcing me to wait for the mechanical support to get a new tire for my spare tube. I got back on the bike after nine minutes of waiting and entered T2 with Ben Hoffman and from there on we basically stayed within 30 seconds of each other the entire marathon, running the last 10 km shoulder to shoulder and ending in a sprint finish where I had to settle for second place with a 2:40 marathon.”
Hoffman was impressed by Ditlev’s performance, too. On Instagram, he replied to Ditlev’s statement: “Incredible race. Glad I’m retiring relatively soon.”
The well-deserved silver medal saw Ditlev claim a ticket for Kona. “I’m pretty much still out of words, but this is by far the biggest experience in my short career as a professional triathlete, and I couldn’t be more happy about how I tackled the race. Thanks for the battle Ben Hoffman and congrats Jesper Svensson for the podium! Lastly, I just want to thank my coach Jens Petersen Bach (former pro triathlete himself, ed.). It’s hard to describe in words how much he has meant for my development as an athlete and human being. Having his support out on the course for my Ironman debut yesterday was very special to me.”
