Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain captured her third straight Ironman triathlon victory at Ironman Australia. Wellington's triathlon career has been unbelievably successful so far. No one paid much attention when she decided to become a pro triathlete in 2007, although winning her Ironman debut in Korea in August certainly raised some eyebrows.
That victory allowed her to take part in Ironman Hawaii World Championship in October. Everyone, including herself (according to her blog), would have been positively surprised with a top ten performance. Amazingly the rookie won the WC title, shocking the triathlon world.
Wellington's 9:03 performance on Sunday left no room for speculation. After swimming 3.8K (2.4 miles) in 53 minutes and 27 seconds, she finished the tough 180K (112 miles) bike course in 5:08. Wellington's 3:01 marathon split was the third fastest of the day - including male runners. She finished the 140.6-mile race ninth overall, beating Australia's Kate Major by over five minutes.
Chrissie plans to race at Ironman Germany in July. Then she will focus on defending her WC title in Kona in October. This time she will be the favorite.
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