Rémi Conte wins Tallinn Ironman in Tallinn
French triathlete Rémi Conte won the full-distance Tallinn Ironman competition held in Tallinn on Saturday. He covered 226 kilometres in 8 hours and 8 minutes. The best-performing Estonian participant was Kristofer Kamberg, who took 10th place with a time of 8 hours and 37 minutes.
As ERR News reports, the start of the swimming stage was slightly delayed due to fog. The competition took place despite strong winds and a level-two storm warning. Conte described the running stage as the most difficult part of the course: rain began at the start of the second running lap.
Record number of participants
This year's Tallinn Ironman brought together a record 4,300 participants in the full-distance event and the Ironman 70.3 half-distance race, which was due to take place on Sunday. According to chief organizer Ain-Alar Juhanson, 97 countries were represented across all categories. A total of 1,900 athletes were expected to start the full-distance race, with nearly as many in Ironman 70.3; 150 teams were also registered for the event.
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About 1,500 people were involved in organizing the event, while its headquarters were located at Unibet Arena. For the first time, the swimming stage was held in Lake Raku, south of Tallinn.
Kristofer Kamberg's performance
Kamberg finished 29 minutes behind the winner. He said the course was difficult throughout the race, while rainy weather helped avoid the heat. According to him, the muscles in his legs began to lose strength in the middle of the running stage, causing his pace to slow.
It was only Kamberg's second Ironman. He described himself as an amateur who had not devoted too much attention to training before the start; according to ERR, this level of preparation amounted to about 10–12 hours per week.
