Jan Frodeno kissed his upper arms, he patted his chest and showed his fists at the camera. The German triathlon star achieved an outstanding victory in his penultimate race at world class level. Two weeks before his 42nd birthday, the Rhinelander competed on Friday (local time) at the US Open of the Professional Triathlon Organization (PTO) in a top-class field over two kilometers of swimming, 80 kilometers of cycling and 18 kilometers of running in Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin through.
“It was a few emotional weeks,” said Frodeno. After 3:14:12 hours he stretched his arms in the sky and shouted out his joy at the victory comeback: “And I’m very lucky to be able to enjoy it now.”
Blummenfelt about Frodeno: “Hats off!”
The three-time Hawaii champion took fourth place at the Ironman in Hamburg at the beginning of June. At the beginning of May, Frodeno also missed the podium in fourth place at the PTO European Open in Ibiza. He had to cancel his actual start of the season after a difficult past year with injuries and setbacks due to a virus.
The jubilation and probably the satisfaction after his demonstration of power against the younger generation was all the greater. Second went to Jason West (30) of the USA, 27 seconds back. The Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, shooting star and worst challenger, came in third after cramps when changing from the bike to the run, a further ten seconds behind. “Hats off!” commented the 29-year-old in the direction of the winner.
“When Kristian hit me on the way to the first buoy, I thought: You can have the changing of the guard, but the throne stays with me,” said Frodeno. In the pre-reporting, he had already engaged in a small battle of words with Blummenfelt for the cameras, who, like Frodeno, became Olympic champion and Ironman world champion.
Frodeno received $100,000 (about €90,000) for winning the US Open. Above all, however, before his career finale with the Ironman World Championships on September 10, he sent a clear signal to the competition for the first time in Nice on the Côte d’Azur. “The days when you can set your own pace and feel really good are few and far between,” said Frodeno, who also had to struggle with flight problems when he arrived from the training camp in Lanzarote and in the hour of success the time had to think a year. “I was in the hospital and had my first surgery.”
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After problems with the Achilles tendon, a hip infection had made it difficult for him. “Coming back and competing against the best of the best is just a privilege,” emphasized Frodeno, who took the lead on the running track after finishing eighth after swimming and second after cycling. “A legendary performance by a legendary man,” wrote the PTO.