Some athletes have proven themselves in competitions that no longer exist, such as the American triathlon series. Some belong to the era when this sport was not yet an Olympic discipline, others became champions in semi-iron distance, which appeared not so long ago. We tried to include athletes from every generation into this list.
Andreas Raelert
If he had been a little faster, he would have taken a higher place in the ranking. He was on the verge of victory many times, but he never became the champion. He competed twice in the Olympics, in 2004 after Athens, where he was sixth, he focused on lasting distances.
In 2008 he was second at Ironman 70.3 Championships, then came third and second, third and second in Hawaii between 2009 and 2012. In 2010, he almost snatched victory from McCormack, who, in the last kilometers of the running stage, nevertheless snatched victory from the German. One notable achievement in his career is he set the long course record in 2011 at Challenge Roth, winning in 7:41:33, four minutes.
Greg Welch
Greg Welch performed well at different distances, winning the championships at the Olympic distances and Ironman Hawaii, but his success did not last long. In 1989, he was third at World Tournament behind Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Welch won Championship at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. He is an outstanding personality and became famous for his ability to win races around the planet at any length.
The Australian has won countless home races and starts around the planet, including the Escape from Alcatraz, 1993 ITU Duathlon World Championship, 1994 Ironman Tournament and 1996 ITU Long Course Tournament where Australians won World Cup. Kona, in addition he was third in 1989 and winning in 1994, he finished fifth in 1990, second in 1991, sixth in 1992, fourth in 1995 and third in 1996.
Welch’s accomplishments are some of the most diverse in history of this sport. He had to retire from sport in 1999 when he was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia. That year, at the tournament, he had heart problems that forced him to stop several times, yet he ran the marathon in 2:46:51 and finished 11th.
Craig Alexander
Craig Alexander came attention of the sport fans relatively late, in 2005 he won the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis with largest prize money. He was 32 years old and there were no great achievements in his track record at that time. Next year, Alexander won Ironman 70.3 Championship and automatically qualified for World tournament . Then he finished second behind Australian Chris McCormack.
He is one of most consistent triathletes in history, winning 17 Ironman 70.3 relay and one World Championship, and two World Championships. In 2011 season, Alexander suffered many injuries and was often sick, but nevertheless won Ironman Coeur d’Alene and became only triathlete to win Ironman 70.3 and World Championships in same year. He is also one of only 4 sportsman along with Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Peter Reid to have won World tournament at least than two times.
In 2012 he won in Melbourne and ended second in 70.3 World tournament. In June 2013, he turned 40, but he still won three 70.3 races that year and proved to everyone that age is a convention.
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