GOLD! Triathlete Jelle Geens is the first Belgian ever to win the World Cup half-Ironman: “Just the beginning”
Jelle Geens has been crowned world champion 70.3 Ironman in Taupo. Our compatriot kept two Olympic medalists from Paris behind him in New Zealand.
As so often, Jelle Geens made the difference in running in Taupo. Our compatriot had climbed out of the water in 10th place and was part of an elite group without any problems while cycling.
In the final half marathon, no one was able to cope with a very strong Geens, who left local favorite Hayden Wilde behind in the last 3 kilometers.
After a stormy finish, our compatriot eventually crossed the finish line with a large margin, after 3h32’08”. Geens is the first Belgian world champion in the half Ironman.
New Zealander Hayden Wilde, number 2 at the Olympic Games in Paris, had to settle for silver for his own people, 1’13” behind Geens. Frenchman Léo Bergère took the bronze, just like in Paris.
A golden lesson from the European Championships
Jelle Geens still had time at the line to give his wife a kiss before making the victory gesture. “This is crazy,” he said after the medal ceremony. “Of course you always hope to win, but I haven’t been able to beat Hayden Wilde much yet, usually the opposite happens.”
Wilde, however, ran away from our compatriot in front of his own audience. “I also started quickly,” says Geens. “I wanted to see if I could close the gap, but I quickly had to put on the brakes.”
“At the European Championships in Tallinn at the end of August, I also started too fast and at the end I almost had to walk. That experience helped me to slow down and still run at my own pace.”
“We were hoping for Hayden Wilde to collapse and that’s what happened at the end. After the nightmare at the Paris Games, it’s nice to focus on something new with the middle distance. This is only my first world title, this is just the beginning.”
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