{"id":13741,"date":"2022-04-14T17:00:12","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=97509"},"modified":"2022-04-14T17:21:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:21:11","slug":"jan-frodeno-to-miss-ironman-world-championship-in-may","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/jan-frodeno-to-miss-ironman-world-championship-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan Frodeno to miss Ironman World Championship in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Tim Heming\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 14 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Jan Frodeno<\/a> is out of May\u2019s Ironman World Championship in St George after a partial tear to his Achilles tendon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The German was looking to defend the crown he won in 2019<\/a><\/strong> after 2020\u2019s race was cancelled due to Covid and last autumn\u2019s race was rescheduled to Utah<\/a><\/strong> in three weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve recently been diagnosed with a small partial tear of the Achilles tendon. That\u2019s the reason my running didn\u2019t progress past an hour, which even at the very best of speeds is not enough for a marathon \u2013 or even a half,\u201d Frodeno said in a statement released on his social channels<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of sport I guess, but it still doesn\u2019t get any easier. I\u2019ve been up on skis and cross training and actually getting really fit, but for now, it\u2019s time to play it a little bit safe. My dream is still to get to the Big Island of Hawaii and have a really, really great race there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a partial rupture there is always a danger of more happening, so I\u2019ve decided to hopefully play it smart, and prepare well, and get myself ready in the best way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

No new record this time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Frodeno sprints away from Simon Whitfield to claim Olympic gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 (Credit: Adam Pretty\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Frodeno was looking to become the first triathlete aged 40 to win the Ironman World Championship and the PTO-ranked No 2 headed into the race as one of the favourites having not been defeated since 2017.<\/p>\n

In fact, Frodeno, the 2008 Olympic champion from Beijing (pictured above), has had a stellar career since turning his full attention to long course racing in 2014.<\/p>\n

In 31 high profile races over that time, he\u2019s only been off the podium twice, including a 35th place in Hawaii in 2017<\/a><\/strong> where a back injury forced him to walk-jog the marathon.<\/p>\n

The triumphs include three Ironman world titles, two Ironman 70.3 world titles and course records in Hawaii (7:51:13) and Challenge Roth (7:35:39) \u2013 the race in Roth being the fastest time ever for the iron distance until Frodeno bettered it himself last year in a head-to-head match with Canadian Lionel Sanders<\/a><\/strong> where he stopped the clock at 7:27:53.<\/p>\n

Down but not out<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With 2016 and 2017 winner Patrick Lange<\/a><\/strong> also out of the race having broken his shoulder in February, it leaves their fellow German Sebastian Kienle as the remaining Ironman world champion in the men\u2019s field, with Sanders, USA\u2019s Ben Hoffman and Britain\u2019s David McNamee the only other triathletes to have made the podium.<\/p>\n

Frodeno added: \u201cInevitably when you seek the limit, at some point sooner or later, you\u2019ll find it and I\u2019ve taken that step too far once again. But that\u2019s part of my nature. It\u2019s how I\u2019m made up, So I\u2019m going to push all I can, and unfortunately it was just a little bit too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, rehab time. I\u2019ll be hurting watching from the side-lines, but it\u2019s stoking the fire for sure, and hoping for a return as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n