Ironman New Zealand: Bozzone, Siddall Win by Large Margins, New Course Record Set

Before this year's Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, New Zealander Terenzo Bozzone accomplished a few podium finishes but always fell short from becoming the champion. This past weekend, he not only landed first-place, but he also set a new course record previously held by this year's bronze

Before this year’s Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, New Zealander Terenzo Bozzone accomplished a few podium finishes but always fell short from becoming the champion. This past weekend, he not only landed first-place, but he also set a new course record previously held by this year’s bronze winner and 12-time champion, Cameron Brown. Bozzone’s new record is 07:59:56, which is more than seven minutes faster than the one set by Brown in 2016. Joe Skipper took second, trailing Bozzone by more than five minutes.

This year marks Brown’s 19th consecutive Ironman New Zealand podium finish. All three men beat the 2016 course record this year.

Here’s another great comeback story. Britain’s Laura Siddall became the new champion in the women’s race, beating 2017 champion, USA’s Jocelyn McCauley by 12 minutes with a 09:00:45. McCauley finished third behind New Zealander Teresa Adam, who completed the course almost five minutes behind Siddall.

Siddall is the first Brit to win Ironman New Zealand. Her 09:00:45 is currently the second fastest finish time in the race’s history.

Braden Currie, the 2017 men’s champion, dropped out early in the bike leg this year after realizing he hadn’t fully recovered from the flu. He skipped last month’s Coast to Coast race on the South Island to focus on this weekend’s Ironman instead. It was a case of bad timing.

New Zealand’s beautiful Lake Taupo region was also the home of the Ironman 70.3 New Zealand age-group championships this weekend, which didn’t seem to get much love from media.

Both events went a lot more smoothly than International Triathlon Union’s World Triathlon sprint races in Abu Dhabi this weekend. A large percentage of triathletes experienced bike accidents because of sharp corners and wet conditions. Read more: ITU Abu Dhabi Plagued by Bike Crashes.