The 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship was held on October 11, 2008, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. It was the 32nd such Ironman Triathlon World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The champions were Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington. The championship was organised by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).
Medallists
Men Pos. Time(h:mm:ss) Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss)Swim T1 Bike T2 Run8:17:45Craig Alexander51:431:414:37:192:042:45:018:20:50Eneko Llanos51:391:484:33:272:102:51:498:21:23Rutger Beke54:441:504:34:452:162:47:4948:21:46Ronnie Schildknecht54:561:584:34:262:082:48:2058:26:17Cameron Brown51:502:044:36:471:592:53:3968:30:23Patrick Vernay51:581:524:42:492:062:51:4078:33:50Andy Potts48:401:484:46:002:512:54:3188:34:02Mathias Hecht51:421:464:36:552:283:01:1398:34:47Michael Lovato52:581:524:45:212:272:52:12108:36:53Eduardo Sturla54:472:024:34:272:203:03:19 Source:
Women Pos. Time(h:mm:ss) Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss)Swim T1 Bike T2 Run9:06:23Chrissie Wellington56:202:065:08:161:592:57:449:21:20Yvonne van Vlerken1:06:491:505:05:342:423:04:279:22:52Sandra Wallenhorst1:03:212:335:14:573:282:58:3649:24:49Erika Csomor59:092:195:18:122:063:03:0559:28:51Linsey Corbin1:00:352:225:14:332:073:09:1669:29:15Virginia Berasategui58:502:105:22:172:123:03:4879:34:08Bella Comerford59:022:275:21:462:253:08:3189:36:53Gina Ferguson54:452:155:26:292:073:11:1999:37:06Gina Kehr54:452:005:21:464:023:14:36109:39:53Dede Griesbauer54:522:065:20:522:483:19:17 Source:
The championship race had a total of 1,731 athletes competing (1,256 men and 475 women) from 51 countries started the race with 1,634 finished, 94 did not finish and 3 were disqualified. A maximum temperature of 81.6 °F (27.6 °C) made for warm racing conditions with wind gusts reaching 13.0 mph (20.9 km/h).
Qualification To enter for the 2008 World Championship race, athletes were required to qualify through performance at an Ironman or selected Ironman 70.3 race, through Hawaii residency, through a random allocation lottery, or by invitation from the WTC.
The Ironman 2008 Series consisted of 21 Ironman qualifying races plus the Ironman World Championship 2008 which was itself a qualifier for the 2009 Ironman World Championship. The series started with Ironman Wisconsin 2007 held on September 9, 2007, and in total 1,800 athletes qualified for the World Championship race.
Qualifying Ironmans Date Event Location Ford Ironman Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin, United States Ford Ironman World Championship Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States Ford Ironman Florida Panama City Beach, Florida, United States Ironman Western Australia Busselton, Western Australia, Australia Ironman Malaysia Langkawi, Malaysia Ironman New Zealand Taupō, New Zealand Ironman Australia Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia Ironman South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa Ford Ironman Arizona Tempe, Arizona, United States Ironman China Hainan Island, China Ironman Lanzarote Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, Spain Ironman Brazil Florianópolis Island, Brazil Ironman France Nice, France Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States Ironman Germany Frankfurt, Germany Ironman Austria Klagenfurt, Austria Ironman Switzerland Zürich, Switzerland Ironman Lake Placid Lake Placid, New York, United States Ironman Canada Penticton, British Columbia, Canada Ironman Louisville Louisville, Kentucky, United States Ironman UK Sherborne, Dorset, United Kingdom
There were 33,769 recorded Ironman finishing times during the 2008 series, with the fastest time of 7:59:55 set by Chris McCormack in the Ironman European Championship 2008.
2008 Ironman Series results
Men Event Gold Time Silver Time Bronze Time ReferenceWisconsin 8:52:49 9:03:22 9:06:05World Champs 07 8:15:34 8:19:04 8:21:30Florida 8:21:29 8:23:49 8:26:52Western Australia 8:06:00 8:09:20 8:12:20Malaysia 8:34:42 9:04:54 9:06:03New Zealand 8:24:49 8:31:35 8:33:35Australia 8:31:33 8:40:19 8:42:48South Africa 8:18:23 8:23:09 8:33:24Arizona 8:34:19 8:34:36 8:35:04China 8:52:14 9:13:15 9:14:17Lanzarote 8:59:37 9:08:15 9:08:36Brazil 8:28:24 8:38:56 8:41:32France 8:34:18 8:41:55 8:45:15Coeur d'Alene 8:34:22 8:43:56 8:48:22Germany 7:59:55 8:00:49 8:04:16Austria 8:06:11 8:13:53 8:16:56Switzerland 8:16:05 8:32:10 8:40:53Lake Placid 8:43:32 8:55:20 8:56:33Canada 8:30:12 8:34:34 8:36:08Louisville 8:33:58 8:54:52 8:59:15UK 8:53:58 9:04:29 9:08:24
Women
Event Gold Time Silver Time Bronze Time ReferenceWisconsin World Champs 07 Florida Western Australia Malaysia New Zealand Australia South Africa Arizona China Lanzarote Brazil France Coeur d'Alene Germany Austria Switzerland Lake Placid Canada Louisville UK
References
External links Kona 2008 — IRONMAN.com