Who the hell does Chrissie Wellington think she is? What business does she have winning a 4th Ironman crown? The sheer audacity of even showing up 2 weeks post bike crash after her knees were bloodied, thighs scraped, ankles crushed, face half scraped off, missing ears and fingers... ok, maybe that's embellishing. But still, what professional triathlete would show up to the biggest stage and even expect to sniff the podium after a major crash?
Chrissie Cyborg Wellington, that's who. Lets face it. She's not human. She HAS to be a mix of human and robot. Have you ever had road rash? You can't move around without being in pain from the scabs pulling on your skin as your wounds heal. What human puts together a sub 3 hours marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles with substantial external and internal injuries? Then, to top that, wins the Ironman Championship for the 4th time, thus never losing a 140.6 mile event. EVER.
After Kona 2010, I respected her as an exceptional athlete, but her reputation wasn't as pristine as I once had viewed it.
That was then. This is now.
Post Kona 2011 you better believe she was for real. Scabs and all she came, she raced, she kicked ass. There has NEVER been any murmur of performance enhancing drugs, she wasn't a trained triathlete since being a fetus and she's actually personable and not a jerk athlete. What gives? Is there anything she can't do? When will she start to decline athletically? Hopefully it will be a long time until we start to see Chrissie's limits. Many enjoyed watching and listening to her make a valiant effort and come back to take Kona 2011. She gives many triathletes and potential triathletes hope that anything is possible.
Makes you wonder who else has the potential to do impossible feats and they are out there, just having a good time developing rural Nepal and no one knows their name... yet.
Ryan Falkenrath writes the blog falkeetriathlon.blogspot.com, married father of two young kids, owner of two dogs and trying to balance life, work and multisport. Ryan has participated in multisport events since 2001 from 5k's to Half Ironmans. Ryan is also the Kansas City Endurance Sports Examiner and you can read more of his triathlon thoughts HERE and he collects race reviews at www.Triathlon-Reviews.blogspot.com. Contact Ryan at: falkeetriathlon@hotmail.com or follow him on @TriJayhawkRyan.
*Expressed opinions are not necessarily that of EverymanTri.com
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Photo Credit: The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows
