Jason West Tops Field at IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May 22, 2022) – Southeastern Tennessee and northern Georgia provided a stunning backdrop for the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship Chattanooga. With some of triathlon’s best on hand, Boulder's Jason West (USA) won the men’s professional race with a finishing time of 3:37:14 while Jackie Hering (USA) topped the podium in the women’s professional race with a time of 4:02:34.
Finishing on the men’s professional podium was Castle Rock's Matt Hanson (USA) in second with a finishing time of 3:38:11 only two weeks after a 13th place at the 2021 IRONMAN World Championship, and Colorado's Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) who posted a 3:39:52 finishing time that was good for third place.
On the women’s side, Paula Findlay (CAN) took second behind Hering with a time of 4:06:15, while Holly Lawrence (GBR) finished in third with a time of 4:09:22. Boulder's Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) finished fifth in 4:15:07.
Covid took out Boulder's Flora Duffy before the race started. In an Instagram post on Saturday, Duffy wrote: "Well my race is over before it even started. Have been feeling slightly under the weather the last couple of days and decided I should do a Covid test to rule that out. Two positive tests later… Really sad. I was looking forward to racing over the 70.3 distance. I’ve put so much work into the TT bike in recent months. The road to St George just became a little tougher!"
Top five professional men’s results:
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | FINISH | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jason West | USA | 00:24:36 | 02:00:52 | 01:09:09 | 03:37:14 |
| 2. Matt Hanson | USA | 00:25:00 | 02:00:36 | 01:09:59 | 03:38:11 |
| 3. Rodolphe Von Berg | USA | 00:24:45 | 02:00:47 | 01:11:51 | 03:39:52 |
| 4. Jackson Laundry | CAN | 00:24:52 | 02:00:29 | 01:12:09 | 03:40:20 |
| 5. Steven McKenna | AUS | 00:24:46 | 02:00:41 | 01:14:29 | 03:42:58 |
Top five professional women’s results:
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | FINISH | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jackie Hering | USA | 00:26:45 | 02:14:12 | 01:18:12 | 04:02:34 |
| 2. Paula Findlay | CAN | 00:26:41 | 02:14:13 | 01:22:06 | 04:06:15 |
| 3. Holly Lawrence | GBR | 00:25:27 | 02:16:33 | 01:24:22 | 04:09:22 |
| 4. Lesley Smith | USA | 00:28:15 | 02:24:26 | 01:17:51 | 04:13:56 |
| 5. Mirinda Carfrae | AUS | 00:29:24 | 02:19:40 | 01:22:56 | 04:15:07 |