Belinda Granger Takes Ironman Malaysia

From the Sydney Morning Herald

Triathlete Belinda Granger has won her 12th Ironman-distance race, taking out Ironman Malaysia for the third-straight year.

Granger dominated the race, taking the lead on the bike and winning by more than 12 minutes.

She finished in nine hours 23 minutes and 33 seconds, well clear of the 9:35:02 from Italian Edith Niederfriniger.

It was a good day for the Sydney-based Grangers, with Belinda’s husband Justin finishing fourth in the men’s race and the first Australian male across the line.

The win represents an impressive return to form for Granger, who needed major surgery last year to repair an artery in her leg.

She is a regular top-10 finisher at the Hawaiian Ironman world championships but had to pull out during that race last October because of illness.

“It was definitely my intention to come back here and get three in a row,” Granger told the Ironman website.

“Now I can tick that off my list – the No.1 goal was to get to the finish line after being sick in Hawaii.”

Belgian Marino Vanhoenacker smashed the men’s field to win by more than 28 minutes, clocking 8:22:31, while Granger finished 9:01:08.

The race was held in hot, humid conditions and was the standard Ironman triathlon distances of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km marathon run.