Press Release: BREAKTHROUGH VICTORIES FOR EXPERIENCED PAIR AT IRONMAN MALAYSIA

LANGKAWI, 17 November 2018 - Late in their careers, both Daniil Sapunov and Mareen Hufe had plenty to celebrate in their respective victories at the 2018 IRONMAN Malaysia at Langkawi today.

Sapunov, from the Ukraine, achieved his breakthrough IRONMAN victory after nearly a decade at the distance. His win could not have been more emphatic. He came out of the swim with the leaders and took charge when defending champion Romain Guillaume cramped badly late on the bike after the pair pushed clear of chasers.

From there he was in a class of his own on the run to win in 8:33:37, which was 21:37 clear of second placed Kaito Tohara (Japan) with 35:35 back to Urs Müller (Switzerland) in third. It proved career bests for all three.

Sapunov, a triple Olympian from Athens, Beijing and London, spent 10 years on the ITU circuit where he gained 56 top-10s before moving to IRONMAN IN 2011. Since that time his best was fourth in Malaysia in 2016 and with only four top-10s on his slate. That makes the victory for the 36-year-old in Malaysia that much more special.

Likewise too for the 40-year-old Hufe, who was twice a runner-up at Langkawi in 2016 and 2017. She has a double degree in business and it was only in the last six years she eased up on her career hours to allow more time for IRONMAN.

Until she turned 40 in April, her IRONMAN palmers included seven runners-up and three third placing but she had not ventured to the top step of the podium. But since her birthday, she had a breakthrough win in Kalmar (Austria) and now her second in Malaysia.

She trailed American Jocelyn McCauley by six minutes out of the water, but caught her at the 110km mark on the bike, before taking a 4:30 lead on to the 42.2km marathon run.

As McCauley faded and eventually withdrew, Hufe produced a 3:23:00 marathon run in challenging conditions to cruise to victory in 9:25:22, which was the fifth fastest overall.

There were impressive podiums to Simona Krivankova from the Czech Republic, who run up to second place in 9:55:36, the first podium of her career but her fourth top-seven finish this year. Rounding out the podium was Italy’s Federica de Nicola, the 18-24 IRONMAN World Champion last year, who enjoyed her first professional podium in 9:57:29.

The emotional Daniil said, “Today is my first IRONMAN win in 4 years of my career. I want to dedicate this win to my wife who has always supported me through these years. I would love to come back to Langkawi again next year with my family. I get to enjoy the beach after a long day of doing IRONMAN.”

Mareen Hufe, who finally claimed her win at IRONMAN Malaysia, was very happy with the win. “It feels amazing to finally win the IRONMAN Malaysia after coming 2nd place for two years in a row. The race is demanding because of the humidity and heat. I had a good swim and managed to maintain a close distance with Jocelyn. It was raining during the cycling and very sunny during running but overall, I’m very happy with how the run goes because I was able to enjoy the race, although the condition is tough. I’m glad it worked out like the Germany’s saying, “All good things come to threes.”

Provisional Results

Pro Men

1 Daniil Sapunov UKR 08:33:36

2 Kaito Tohara JPN 08:55:13

3 Urs Müller CHE 09:09:11

Pro Women

1 Mareen Hufe GER 09:25:21

2 Simona Křivánková GER 09:55:35

3 Federica De Nikola ITA 09:57:28

About IRONMAN

A Wanda Sports Holdings company, IRONMAN operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® 70.3® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series®, Iron Girl®, IRONKIDS®, International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series races, road cycling events including the UCI Velothon® Series, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic®, premier marathons including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, and other multisport races. IRONMAN’s events, together with all other Wanda Sports Holdings events, provide more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. The iconic IRONMAN® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world. Since the inception of the IRONMAN® brand in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines at the world’s most challenging endurance races. Beginning as a single race, IRONMAN has grown to become a global sensation with more than 200 events across 50 countries. For more information, visit www.IRONMAN.com.

About MyCeb

Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) was established in 2009 by Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia to further strengthen Malaysia’s business tourism brand and position for the international business events market. A non-profit organisation, MyCEB serves as a central hub to assist meeting and event planners to bid for and stage international business events in Malaysia and act as a conduit for national product development.