While yesterday’s Ironman Nice took place for female pro athletes, Ironman 70.3 Nice was taking place at the same time. That race – on the same day and location – was Age Group only, which made it all the more remarkable that none other than Anne Haug was participating.
The German former Ironman World Champion (and Kona’s runner-up last year, ed.) started somewhere in the back of wave 1 and then, not entirely surprisingly of course, began a huge catch-up. When Haug finished in a time of 4:38:44, she proved to be, just as unsurprisingly, the fastest woman. The first Age Grouper to follow was France’s Sandra Huon, who crossed the finish line after 4:48:24.
The participation of Haug, who was using the race as preparation for the Ironman World Championship to be held in Nice later this year, is notable because professional athletes are not actually allowed to start in Age Group races. If they do, they are generally not allowed to start at pro races that year anymore. Ironman this time made an exception for Haug. Haug is not included in the overall rankings, but if you search by gender, Haug is still dominating the results.
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Lucy Charles-Barclay used Ironman Nice as preparation for the Ironman World Championships as well, but she just raced the Full Distance as a pro and did win by a huge margin. Haug thanked Ironman afterwards for the opportunity to start on the 70.3:
