While the weather was challenging, the energy was abundant, as Tulsa, Oklahoma welcomed athletes to the region for the inaugural edition of the Certified Piedmontese IRONMAN North American Championship triathlon on Sunday, May 23. Athletes from around the world arose to the challenge, tackling the 140.6-mile course through northeastern Oklahoma for the first time. The event was the first full-distance IRONMAN triathlon to take place in the North American region in 2021.
With some of triathlon’s best making their way to the Sooner State to vie for top honors, two-time IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange (Germany) and four-time IRONMAN World Champion Daniela Ryf (Switzerland) took the top honors with finishing times of 7:45:22 and 8:40:34 respectively. Today’s event also featured live event coverage on Facebook Watch via the IRONMAN Now channel. The full broadcast of the Certified Piedmontese IRONMAN North American Championship Tulsa triathlon can be viewed here.
Rounding out the men’s professional podium was Jan Van Berkel (Switzerland) coming in second with a finish time of 7:50:58 and Daniel Baekkegard (Denmark) who posted a 7:52:59 finishing time that was good for third place. In the women’s professional race, Katrina Matthews (Great Britain) took second in 8:45:35, while Skye Moench (United States) finished in third with an 8:47:45 performance.
MALE PRO:
1 Patrick Lange DUE 7:45:22
2 Jan van Berkel SUI +5:35
3 Daniel Baekkegard DNK +7:36
4 Denis Chevrot FRA +9:04
5 Bart Aernouts BEL +9:51
FEMALE PRO:
1 Daniela Ryf SUI 8:40:34
2 Katrina Matthews GBR +5:01
3 Skye Moench USA +7:11
4 Heather Jackson USA +17:23
5 Gurutze Frades ESP +21:45