The winners at Israman: "We just love to compete in this great competition"
The first jump was set for 6:20 on Friday morning, when it was still dark outside, but towards the beach the athletes in suits and swimming hats in different colors flowed according to the different allotments. Despite the fears of cold and winds, the weather was excellent and there was no sign of the wind and temperatures that were here only last Wednesday. What all the winners at Israman have in common at full distance and half distance is that everyone praised and told at the end how much they love this special competition, even though perhaps precisely because it is no small physical challenge for them.
Israman at full distance
At the full distance of the Iron Man in men, Dan Alterman won for the second time after winning this track already in 2017. Alterman won in a time of 9:52:28 hours and was 6:51 minutes ahead of Dan Connie who finished in a time of 9:59:19 hours 'And was a competition for him along the entire bike path along 180 km. The podium was closed by Amit Shaked who arrived 11:27 minutes after Alterman and finished the competition in a time of 10:03:55 hours.
In the full distance in the women, Limor Hagani won, which for her is the first time she has won the long distance in Ishraman in a time of 11:48:49 hours. In second place came Irena Mazin, a veteran athlete at Bishraman who also won several times in the long distance in a time of 12:05:16 hours.
Half Israel
At a distance of half an iron man in Bishraman, Olympic triathlete Ran Sagiv was also expected to compete, but due to becoming a Corona national last week, he was forced to give up the competition. The winner in the half distance is Roi Zoarz who came first in a time of 4:38:12 hours. Itamar Eshed, who came in second place, competed shoulder to shoulder in considerable parts of the competition against Zoarz and reached the finish line only 9 seconds later in a time of 4:38:21 hours. The podium was closed by Udi Elhanati, who arrived 6:25 minutes after Zoarz and finished in a time of 4:44:37 hours.
In the women's Israman semi-final, Antonina Reznikov won, who was registered for the full distance, but moved to the half distance due to the World Championship at Ultraman, where she competes in about two weeks. Reznikov has won 4 times to date at full distance and this was for her the first time she has won the half distance in this competition. Reznikov arrived in a time of 5:14:43 hours and said after the victory that she really likes the competition and for her this is the home field as a resident of Eilat. In second place came Hadas Mazar in a time of 5:31:59 hours with a big gap from Reznikov who stood at 17:16 min. In third place was Roni Zevlik, who arrived in 5:51:35.
The Israeli pro competitors at the full distance restored the Israman crown by dominating with a wire-to-wire performance in both the men’s and women’s race at a record breaking day in the Israman
Israeli Omri Gazit (9:47:27) won the race with an impressive wire-to-wire lead over the field. The defending Israeli champion Dan Alterman (9:55:44) was second after a thrilling chase followed by one of the best run splits in Israman history. Israeli Amit Shaked (10:00:53) rounded up the podium with a stealth and steady performance.
In the women's race the defending champion and 3 time Israman winner from Israel Antonina Reznikov (10:29:30) defended her crown successfully and broke the race record that was held by her once again.
In second place was previous Israman champion Irena Mazin (12:30:23) from Israel in her 11th appearance at the race.
In the half distance, it was belgian Diego Van looy half distance three-peat (4:30:33) who blasted his way to the finish line with a men's best bike and run closing a swim deficit. In second Erik-Simon Strijk of Netherlands (4:37:25) with a stellar performance and in third Eilat based Roee Zo-Arets (4:42:40) which rounded up the podium once again with an improvement over last year.
In the women’s race the Olympic Triathlon world champion Nicola Spirig from Swiss in a one-woman show wire-to-wire dominating performance (4:47:26). Nicola broke the previous record held by Alice Hector of Great Britain by 16 minutes. Katharina Grohmann ( 5:23:29) from Germany had not many options left and finished second. Hadas Mazar (5:37:33) from Israel finished third.