7 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds; on Sunday 17 July at Challenge Roth Jan Frodeno made triathlon history by destroying the previous long distance world record. Eclipsing the 2011 mark set by Andreas Raelert by an incredible margin of nearly six minutes, the German triathlete led through nearly the entire 226 km course in a breathtaking performance between him and the clock. Adding the world record to his 2008 Olympic gold medal and 2015 World Championship titles at both the short and long distances, the 34-year-old Frodeno asserted his dominance over the sport of triathlon.
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“I am incredibly happy that I got the record and just thankful that I didn’t break”, said Frodeno after the race, “but there wasn’t any other option except to risk it all and give everything I had. The time should hold for the next two or three years.”
#Project740: Take a Look Behind the Scenes of Frodeno’s World Record Performance
The Fastest Bike
Finishing the swim in first place in a time of 45:22, Frodeno quickly went to work defending his reputation as pre-race favourite and laid the foundation for his incredible wire-to-wire victory. During the bike ride, the Hawaii champion demonstrated his superiority with a 4:08:07 clocking that would remain the fastest bike split of the day. The deal was sealed in the final leg as Frodeno ran the marathon in a blistering 2:39:18 which brought him in a staggering 20 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. “The last kilometre of the marathon the pain was unbelievable, but the feeling at the finish of getting the world record was worth it.”