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Blog: Chris McCormack – Ironman Frankfurt And The Raelert Boys

  • By Paul Moore
  • Published July 7, 2010

Last weekend Andreas Raelert cycled his way to the biggest win of his triathlon career at the Ironman European Championships, Frankfurt (read that race report here). In his blog, Chris McCormack reflects on an incredible race, and shares his thoughts on Andreas Raelert.

By Chris McCormack
In cycling they have the Schlek brothers. In Tennis it’s the William Sisters! In American football you have the famous Manning boys who continue to do incredible things in that sport like winning Super Bowl titles. It is pretty cool that talent can run so deep in families, and when siblings pick the same sport to excel in, they can be such good rivals and push eachother to greatness. Now in triathlon we have our own equivalent in the Raelert brothers. Both Michael and Andreas have had incredible seasons this year, and Andreas performance 48 hours ago, in the European Ironman Championships was simply classy. These two guys have really singled themselves out this year as big time performers and the marquee athletes of the year. Sure the same players are around as years past, but as I have said about Europe, you just can’t hide over here and both these boys have been cleaning up here, and in the USA. Whether you are racing a club event or a big Ironman race, the depth of talent is so deep that just winning races in Europe is tough. Many of the events now in the USA are diluted amongst the pro fields simply because athletes have the ability to pick from a big pool of races. In Europe there are 4 Ironman 70.3 races and 4 Ironmans. It’s basic supply and demand. The price for lack of supply in Europe is stacked fields and incredibly fast, aggressive racing. I just love it and for 16 years I have been coming over here for that very reason. It is not about money, it’s all about the competition, and feeding that drive to race.

Click here to read the full blog at chrismccormack.com

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Paul Moore

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon