Buckingham, Bleymehl crowned Ironman African Champions

Gqeberha’s Kyle Buckingham made his dream an emotional reality and dedicated his second victory on home soil to his family when he claimed the 2022 Isuzu Ironman African Championship title in Gqeberha on Sunday.

Buckingham, who lost both his parents in the last 2½ years and became a father himself, said he had dreamt about winning this race again and was ecstatic to have achieved that feat in some tough racing conditions.

The day started at 7am for the professionals with rainy weather and rough seas which saw the 3.8km swim shortened to just 700m, while it was cancelled entirely for both the full distance age-group and Isuzu Ironman 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay competitors, who had a rolling bike start at 8.30am.

However, that was no deterrent for the 2018 champion as he engaged in a battle with Bradley Weiss in the marathon to finish in a time of seven hours, 16 minutes  and 31 seconds.

Weiss finished 20 seconds back in 7:16.51, while Matt Trautman claimed the final podium spot in 7:17.37, ensuring a first-ever all-SA podium in 17 editions of the Ironman African Championships.

“I dreamt of winning again and celebrating for my mom and dad, but I couldn’t because Brad was right behind me.

“I dedicate everything to my parents who I have lost in the last 2½ years.

“I am extremely happy and super proud to have pushed through, dug so deep, and never gave up the entire time,” he said.

Buckingham said it was a bit disappointing that the swim had been shortened, as that was one of his stronger disciplines.

“That was extremely difficult because my swimming has been really good, so when that was announced, I knew it would come down to a foot race.

“I needed to be patient on the bike, even though there were quite a lot of groups.

“In the last 30km to go, I turned on the gas as I wanted to show the boys I was still strong, which I did, so I am glad my strategy just worked perfectly.

“My goal was to run a 2:40 marathon and I think I ran a 2:41, so I was right on target the whole run, I dug super deep and never really blew up.

“I was clever, patient and my nutrition strategy was perfect, so I executed really well,” he said.

In the women’s race, German Daniela Bleymehl claimed the win in 8:22.35, ahead of compatriot Elena Illeditsch (8:34.00), and SA’s Magda Niewoudt stopped the clock at 8:37.46 for third.

Bleymehl said she was looking forward to spending some time with her family before diving into preparations for her next challenge.

“I did a lot less training than usual for a big race like this but my coach did a great job in building me up and getting me ready for this race.

“I was disappointed with the swim being shortened because there were a lot of strong runners in the field.

“The bike went well and the first half of my marathon went really well, but in the second half I felt like I was dying,” she said.

In the 70.3 race, Manfred Lambrechts and Marizaan Vermeulen were the overall winners in times of 3:40.50 and 4:22.56 respectively.

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