IRONMAN South Africa and 2023 African Championship

Gqeberha played host to IRONMAN South Africa and the 2023 ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship on 5 March which was dominated by international athletes.

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IRONMAN South Africa

This full-length event, 3.8km swim, 180km cycle ride, and 42.2km run, in Nelson Mandela Bay, has a prize purse, of $150 000, and attracts a wide field.

The course has a bay swim and rolling bike and run. Inclement weather saw the event delayed and the swim was once again truncated.

2018 was the last time the swim was completed in full. 2019 and 2021 saw the organisers forced to do a 1,9km loop. Last year’s choppy waters limited the swim to 700m. The threat of a storm resulted in a 900m swim in 2023. The race was canceled in 2020

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French athlete Leon Chevalier won the men’s open title of the ultra-distance triathlon in 7:11:44. South African Bradley Weiss came second on home soil and secured the continental title in 7:16:03.

German superstar, Laura Phillipp won the women’s race in 8:01:59 beating British athlete Fenella Langridge by 11 minutes. Two-time Olympic champion from the UK, Alistair Brownlee was a late withdrawal due to a hip injury.

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ISUZU IRONMAN African Championship

Men’s and Women’s Age Group Qualifying slots to the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France on 10 September 2023 for men, and Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on 14 October 2023 for women were on offer. Weiss won the men’s title coming second overall.

The women’s title went to South African Jade Roberts. She came seventh overall in 8:24:04. Both will look to fly the South African flag on behalf of Africa at the World Championships.

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