It wasn’t just national history, but pure international sports history that Youri Keulen wrote last weekend. Finishing second at Ironman Brazil with a jaw-dropping time of 7:33:21, Keulen became the fastest debutant ever over the full distance.
“I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about debuting in a full Ironman, but I didn’t actually run into many negative surprises myself,” Keulen analyzes calmly and collectedly, just 24 hours after a legendary performance that also secured his slot for the Ironman World Championship on Kona.
Less than a day after his monumental effort, Keulen is driving through some of Brazil’s favelas on a sightseeing tour with his coach, Edo van der Meer. Just before this, they spent two hours over a long lunch together, doing what they do best: analyzing the race.
“We came to the conclusion that if this is my Ironman debut, it’s a pretty decent one,” Keulen says. Van der Meer quickly adds with a loud laugh: “Well, it was the best imaginable Ironman debut.”
Keulen himself is holding back his emotions and excitement a bit, which he explains is intentional. “I’m trying to look at it analytically right now, so I can put yesterday’s feelings into words as best as I can. It’s all quite surreal, and honestly, I barely realize what just happened.”
A Battle of ‘Dying Swans’
What actually happened out on the course can be summed up quite simply: Keulen raced at the front all day. During the final forty kilometers of the bike leg, he broke away with Germany’s Wilhelm Hirsch. What followed was a grueling 42.2-kilometer marathon, where both athletes locked horns, never separated by more than twenty seconds. Keulen took the initiative for the first 25 kilometers, before Hirsch – the eventual winner – took over.
“After 30 kilometers of running, I felt physically absolutely destroyed. I didn’t have to fight the course all day, but in the final phase, I truly entered survival mode. Of course, I’ve felt plenty of pain and fatigue during training, but this is on another level,” Keulen says, referring to the toll of the seven-hour-plus effort. “I was actually a bit shocked by that pain. Suddenly I was like, ‘F*ck, this is awful, this really hurts.’“
At that point, Keulen knew that it would take a miracle for him to miss out on a Kona slot. “So I had two choices: either cruise to the finish and take second, or try to attack one last time. I opted for the latter and managed to close the gap a bit, but I couldn’t deliver a decisive final blow. It was a battle of dying swans – we were both completely spent, I was just a little bit more done than he (Hirsch, ed.) was.”
Leaving Nothing to Chance
Heading into the race, Keulen was considered by many to be the pre-race favorite, yet he felt little pressure. “I was incredibly grateful that everyone saw me as the favorite, and I understand why based on my 70.3 and T100 performances. But I said right from the start: a full distance is a completely different beast. So, those expectations weren’t really based on anything. On the other hand, we left absolutely nothing to chance during our preparation. We tested everything, tried everything. I never wanted to look back and feel like I hadn’t given it my all.”
When the dust settled, Keulen walked away with everything he came for – even if he would have preferred the win, which he missed out on by just about a minute. “But I think I’ve said it at least ten times today: we are going to Hawaii. That is truly amazing.”
