These girls can – British females dominated the podium at Ironman 70.3 South Africa last weekend, with Jodie Swallow claiming her fifth win in a row, followed by Susie Cheetham and Parys Edwards.
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Swallow swooped through the swim to take a commanding lead of 2mins over Emma Bilham (GBR) by T1, with Lucie Reed (CZE) a further nine seconds behind. Swallow was first onto the bike, followed by Bilham, Reed, Susie Cheetham (GBR) and Lynette Van Der Merwe (RSA). A second group headed out onto the bike that included Parys Edwards (GBR), Andrea Steyn (RSA) and Jeanni Seymour (RSA).
With Swallow in such a commanding position the real question was would she break the course record. Although she made things look easy throughout the day, she admitted that it was one of the tougher races she’s had on the course.
Two lovely British saffas to share the podium with @susiehignett @parysedwardstri . pleasure x pic.twitter.com/RmKsLAtmxc
Swallow finished in 4:30:53, breaking the course record by nearly four minutes to take her fifth consecutive Ironman 70.3 South Africa title. Susie Cheetham finished second nearly 11 minutes back in 4:41:48, while Parys Edward completed the British clean sweep in a time of 4:47:44.
Men’s race
In the men’s race, last year’s Ironman Wales winner Matt Trautman left the water with a tiny lead over fellow South Africans Kyle Buckingham and Stuart Marais. Two minutes back was Bart Aernouts (BEL), followed by Gerhard de Bruin (RSA) and Cyril Viennot (FRA).
The South African trio of Trautman, Buckingham and Marais headed out onto the bike with mere seconds separating them. The lead continued to change hands until the 4 km turnaround, when Trautman took a slight lead. Further back, Aernouts and Viennot made up some time, bridging the gap to just over a minute from the front three.
Trautman was first into T2 with a bike split of 2:46:10, the fastest of the day. Marais followed in second (2:46:12), while Aernouts (2:49:19) and Viennot (2:49:21) managed to get ahead of Buckingham (2:51:01) who slowed towards the end of the 90km ride.
Trautman and Marais continued their tussle on the run as the lead changed between them a few times. Going at an almost identical pace, and with no one giving an inch, an exciting finish was on the cards. Not until the 16km mark did Trautman move ahead, eventually winning by a minute and a half in 4:04:34, with Marais in second in 4:06:03. Bart Aernouts rounded out the top three in 4:11:36.
Men’s provisional Top 10
1. Matt Trautman- 4:04:34 (RSA) 2. Stuart Marais- 4:06:03 (RSA) 3. Bart Aernouts- 4:11:36 (BEL) 4. Cyril Viennot- 4:14:28 (FRA) 5. Johannes Moldan- 4:15:57 (GER) 6. Kyle Buckingham- 4:16:04 (RSA) 7. Karol Dzalaj- 4:24:12 (SVK) 8. Cool Hannes- 4:28:55 (BEL) 9. Swen Sundberg- 4:30:57 GER) 10. Jeremy Morel- 4:38:18 (FRA)
Women’s provisional Top 10
1. Jody Swallow- 4:30:53 (GBR) 2. Susie Cheetham- 4:41:48 (GBR) 3. Parys Edwards- 4:47:44 (GBR) 4. Emma Bilham- 4:55:30 (SUI) 5. Jeani Seymour 5:02:02 (RSA) 6. Sarah Piampiano- 5:08:54 (USA) 7. Andrea Steyn- 5:20:03 (RSA) 8. Amy Forshaw- 5:24:42 (GBR) 9. Lynette Van der Merwe- 5:28:03 (RSA) 10. Linda Scattolin- 5:36:23 (ITA)
(Images: Craig Muller)
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Were you racing Ironman 70.3 South Africa? Let us know in the comments!
In case you missed this past week’s episode of Monday Night Raw — and if the official numbers are any indication, it would appear that many people did — Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were involved in a comedy segment with The Usos, who caught The Revival… shaving each other’s backs in the locker room.
Well, the jokes on WWE, because despite the company’s best attempts to make the former tag team champions look foolish after allegedly requesting their release, the segment may have just landed them a new gig.
The men’s grooming company MANSCAPED reached out to both Dawson and Wilder following the segment on Raw, stating, “…we saw you guys manscaping on Raw and would love to partner with you & give you guys the right tools for the job!” They also used the hashtags “WeSaveBalls” and “YourBallsWillThankYou”, which may just be the best thing I’ve ever printed on this website.
Hey @ScottDawsonWWE & @DashWilderWWE , we saw you guys manscaping on #RAW & would love to partner with you & give you guys the right tools for the job! . Let's make @WWEUsos jealous and want to start Manscaping too!#GetManscaped #WWE #WeSaveBalls #YourBallsWillThankYou https://t.co/rj6uxEClgK
WWE.com has announced that Andrade will face Ali on the May 7 edition of SmackDown Live. The match comes less than two weeks before Money in the Bank, where both men will compete for a championship opportunity.
That opportunity will hang high above the ring on May 19, as the bout is a Money in the Bank Ladder Match. The man that pulls down the briefcase will have the chance to cash in against the WWE or Universal champion, anywhere at any time.
Finn Bálor, Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman Drew McIntyre and Ricochet will also be in the ring with Andrade and Ali at MITB. The bout is expected to be a high-octane contest, thanks to Bálor, Ali, Ricochet and Andrade. Strowman is the muscle of course, while McIntyre and Corbin will serve as the sinister spoilers.
But that match is made all the more compelling due to the fact that only Bálor and Orton has ever been a world champion in WWE. It could very well be that a new championship face will pull down the briefcase on May 19.
Andrade versus Ali should be a top notch bout in its own right. Many fans consider both men to be the future of WWE and they will surely bring everything they have to their match on May 7.
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce appeared before the live crowd during a commercial break on tonight’s Smackdown Live to address the brand new “Wildcard Rule”. You can check out the short promo below.
This is ironic because the Wildcard Rule has played a large part in the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions not appearing on a single segment during five hours of television this week.
In fact, the entire women’s division was only given about three minutes to compete on Smackdown Live tonight, while male stars from the Raw brand were featured in two big championship matches, as well as the opening segment, taking up half of the show.
Yesterday WWE announced that a new documentary based on Triple H and his WrestleMania week is set to air on the WWE Network soon.
The documentary which will be called “Creation & Destruction” will go on the WWE Network immediately following NXT Takeover: XXV.
It will follow Triple H during WrestleMania week, giving fans a glimpse at all of the different roles he works in the company, from running NXT and helping produce WrestleMania and Takeover to training and competing against Batista at the Grandest Stage Of Them All.
You can see a teaser trailer for it below:
BOSS. HERO. MENTOR.
Watch "Creation and Destruction: @TripleH's Road to #WrestleMania" Saturday, June 1 immediately following #NXTTakeOver on @WWENetwork! pic.twitter.com/wmHCoNrWWt
WWE has announced that WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg is set to take on The Undertaker at WWE Super Showdown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on June 7th. The match is the first time both legends have collided. The combined age of both men is 106 years old.
The #Undertaker and @Goldberg are set to clash for the first time ever on June 7 at #WWESSD! https://t.co/cwL3Iq82ct
As first reported by Fightful.com, WWE issued the following response in regards to reports of Lars Sullivan’s past history of racist & homophobic comments:
WWE supports a culture of inclusion regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation, and we are committed to embracing all individuals as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide.
Dylan Miley (aka Lars Sullivan) will be fined $100,000 and required to complete sensitivity training for offensive commentary uncovered from his past. WWE will also facilitate meetings for Dylan with community organizations to foster further discussion around the power of social media and the impact of your words.
The following report contains results from the NXT Live event in Philadelphia, PA this Friday evening, May 17th. The show featured two title matches, a submission match, and what was described as an excellent hard-hitting match between Punishment Martinez and Keith Lee.
— The Street Profits def. The Outliers (w/ Robert Strauss)
More than 350 triathletes headed to the Hawley Hard army training ground in Hampshire last Sunday for the first edition of the Huntsman Triathlon.
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The races started with an open-water swim in Hawley Lake, followed by a road cycle around the local countryside, finishing with a trail run through Hawley wood and around the lake.
In the men’s Olympic race (1500m/47km/10km), Colin Dixon beat nearest rival Robert Fryer by more than 2mins to cross the line in 2:20:38, while 2013 Gauntlet winner Karl Alexander came third. In the women’s race, Rebecca Slack comfortably won with a time of 2:49:40, with Ruth Thom and Marie Coburn taking second and third place.
In the sprint distance races (750m/20km/5km), there were some good battles throughout: Tim Wallis won the men’s event in a time of 1:13:33 and Katrina Yerbury triumphed in the women’s race with a remarkable time of 1:23:37, which placed her in the overall top ten.
More than 350 triathletes headed to the Hawley Hard army training ground in Hampshire last Sunday for the first edition of the Huntsman Triathlon.
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The races started with an open-water swim in Hawley Lake, followed by a road cycle around the local countryside, finishing with a trail run through Hawley wood and around the lake.
In the men’s Olympic race (1500m/47km/10km), Colin Dixon beat nearest rival Robert Fryer by more than 2mins to cross the line in 2:20:38, while 2013 Gauntlet winner Karl Alexander came third. In the women’s race, Rebecca Slack comfortably won with a time of 2:49:40, with Ruth Thom and Marie Coburn taking second and third place.
In the sprint distance races (750m/20km/5km), there were some good battles throughout: Tim Wallis won the men’s event in a time of 1:13:33 and Katrina Yerbury triumphed in the women’s race with a remarkable time of 1:23:37, which placed her in the overall top ten.
Full results can be found at: www.tdl.ltd.uk.
(Images: Charles Whitton Photography)
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Did you race the Huntsman? How did you get on? Let us know in the comments below!