{"id":25372,"date":"2023-09-10T16:39:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T14:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=148159"},"modified":"2023-09-10T16:46:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T14:46:01","slug":"sam-laidlow-had-covid-just-weeks-before-ironman-world-champs-win","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/sam-laidlow-had-covid-just-weeks-before-ironman-world-champs-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Laidlow had covid just weeks before Ironman World Champs win"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Ironman World Champion Sam Laidlow had covid just two and a half weeks before winning title in style, he reveals… <\/p>

By Rob Slade\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 10 September 2023 at 14:39 PM<\/p>

\n\n

The first Ironman World Championship to take place outside of North America was full of action today, as Frenchman Sam Laidlow<\/a> took the tape in a time of 8:01:19<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In doing so, he went one better than his result in Kona last year<\/a><\/strong> and became the youngest-ever men\u2019s world champion.<\/p>\n

Behind him, Germany\u2019s Patrick Lange<\/a><\/strong> took second ahead of Denmark\u2019s Magnus Ditlev<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Far from ideal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In his post-race interview immediately after the race, Laidlow made a remarkable admission about the build up to this race: \u201cIt\u2019s been a rocky season. [I had an] injury, I had covid two and a half weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I came here maybe a little bit fresher than some people. I only really had two weeks of work behind me, but I\u2019d done some good sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laidlow came into the race with a mixed season behind him, which included a win at the inaugural Challenge London and Challenge Gran Canaria, but also DNFs at Ironman Lanzarote and the PTO Asian Open<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Talking about his approach to this event, Laidlow said: \u201cI really wanted to go into it with the same mentality as last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a kid who enjoys doing this, I\u2019m grateful to be racing the best and, yeah, I just want to see how far that dream can get me.\u201d<\/p>\n