2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

CONQUER IRONMAN WITH PATRICK LANGE

June 2019 / / 35

WORDSTIMHEMINGIMAGESJAMESMITCHELLGET T YIMAGES/IRONMAN

From nearly quitting the sport to becoming the fastest man in Hawaii history,

Patrick Lange’s path to Ironman greatness has been far from conventional.

In an exclusive interview, the German superstar opens up on his astronomic

rise and oers his winning advice for Iron success

If we’re looking for clues as to why
an unheralded part-time triathlete
became the dominant male force in
Ironman’s greatest arena, perhaps a
puny schoolkid who couldn’t throw,
jump or sprint is the place to start.
Patrick Lange was no child protégé
destined for greatness. Neither was
he a short-course starlet gunning
for Olympic success. In fact, by late
2015, on the cusp of turning 30, he
was all but resigned to having no
sponsors and no pro tri career at all.
But then it changed. A new coach
who wrote off his chances, and
defeat to a 40-something ex-champ
in a low-key event in Asia, were
unlikely catalysts. Come October
2016, the German physiotherapist
was running from 22nd off the bike
in Hawaii to finish third with the

fastest marathon ever seen in the

Ironman World Championship.

Lange has since repeated the

fleet-footed trick to twice take the

Kona crown, and now the sight of

him, cap on backwards, powder blue

tri-suit stuffed with sponges floating

past world-class opponents, has

come to be expected.

He might have flunked the

power-based tests as a schoolkid,

but he drew on the knowledge that

when it came to endurance events,

the longer it went, the better he

became, standing him in good stead

to become the greatest Ironman

runner the sport has known. So

what can we learn from his

astronomic ascent to the top of

Ironman racing? Let’s find out in

an exclusive interview...