He\u2019s a key cog in the German domination of long-course racing, but here\u2019s how it all began\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sebastian Kienle fell in love with triathlon when he was just eight years old and, despite being of such tender age, immediately knew that becoming a professional triathlete was an overriding career goal. <\/span>His destiny, almost. <\/span><\/p>\n Kienle first started competing in triathlons at the age of 12 and, by the time of he reached his early twenties, he was already a double Xterra champion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The German\u2019s overwhelmingly strongest discipline is the bike, with his ability on two wheels \u2013 often far greater than those around him \u2013 being the main reason why Kienle has become so well-decorated in long-course racing. <\/span><\/p>\n In 2012, his bike leg set him up for his capturing of the Ironman 70.3 world title in Las Vegas, in the process claiming a course record time. It was a feat he repeated the following year: another world title, another course record.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He hasn\u2019t been at all shabby when it\u2019s come to the full distance either. After a bronze in Kona in 2013, Kienle followed this by grabbing gold in 2014 \u2013 his third Ironman world title. <\/span><\/p>\n Since then there have been two more podium finishes in Hawaii, along with three Ironman European championships golds and a Challenge Roth title. <\/span><\/p>\n Having declared that his retirement will come at the end of 2023, there\u2019s still the prospect of another Ironman world crown to add to the trophy cabinet. When you can generate as much power and speed as Kienle can on the bike, it would be a brave soul to bet against it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sebastian Kienle was born on 6 July 1984, making him 37 years of age.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Victory at Ironman 70.3 Germany in Wiesbaden \u2013 ahead of compatriot\/recently crowned world champ Michael Raelert and Switzerland\u2019s Matthias Hecht \u2013 delivers qualification to the world championships. Kienle\u2019s journey towards the top table of long-distance triathlon is gathering pace.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kienle takes his first Ironman 70.3 world crown in Las Vegas, thanks to an extraordinary bike leg on which he reels in, and powers away from, the leading riders at an extraordinary speed. Indeed, his split is more than five minutes quicker than anyone else. <\/span><\/p>\n This helps him to not only have enough of a gap on the half-marathon to hold off Craig Alexander, but to also set a new course record in the desert of 3:54:53.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A month later, Kienle goes long at the Ironman worlds in Kona and, after suffering from a puncture, finishes fourth, behind the Australian Pete Jacobs, Germany\u2019s Andreas Raelert and the Belgian Frederik Van Lierde.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A successful defence of his Ironman 70.3 world title in Las Vegas, the final year of the event being in Nevada. And it\u2019s another course record, shaving 33 seconds of his winning time of 12 months earlier.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kienle improves on his previous best in Kona, making the podium this time around, behind Van Lierde and the Australian Luke McKenzie. In McKenzie, the German meets a rare beast: someone who can go as fast \u2013 a little faster today, actually \u2013 than he himself can.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One day into his thirties, Kienle takes his first Ironman European champion title in Frankfurt, demolishing the course record, helped \u2013 of course \u2013 by a bike leg that\u2019s more than eight minutes inside the previous best split.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Three months later in Kona, Kienle takes his first \u2013 and, to date, only \u2013 full-distance Ironman crown<\/a><\/strong>. The margin of victory over the silver medallist, the USA\u2019s Ben Hoffman, is a comfortable five minutes, and one largely due to yet another storming bike leg that sees him take a full ten minutes out of the next-fastest rider. Fellow German Jan Frodeno<\/a><\/strong> completes the medallists.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Having finished a disappointment eighth when attempting to defend his world title in 2015, Kienle (left) returns to the podium a year later when he takes silver. Joined on the podium by Frodeno and Patrick Lange<\/a><\/strong>, it\u2019s a German 1-2-3.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWho is Sebastian Kienle?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>How old is Sebastian Kienle?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Sebastian Kienle\u2019s career highlights<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>August 2009: A maiden Ironman title, won on home turf\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
September 2012: Kienle conquers the world, mainly on two wheels\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2012: Just outside the medals in Kona\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
September 2013: Kienle remains 70.3 world champion\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2013: Bronze in Kona shows upward progression\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
July 2014: The new thirty-something is the king of Europe\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2014: A third world title \u2013 this time it\u2019s the big one\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\u00a0October 2016: Kienle bags the full set of Kona medals\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
July 2017: A third European Ironman crown\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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