Indisputably the Queen of IRONMAN Malaysia, Diana Riesler extended her remarkable record-setting run with a fourth straight victory at IRONMAN Malaysia triathlon on the stunning island of Langkawi recently.

Riesler was in control, coming out of the two-laps 3.8km swim two minutes down on American Laurel Wassner but she was quickly in control on the 180km bike course. The German took the lead at the 12km mark and had a seven minute advantage going into the final 42km run.

All that stood between her and history was a solid marathon, which she achieved, winning in 9:19:00 to extend her outstanding record at Langkawi. Riesler has won five IRONMAN races, with her only victory outside of Malaysia coming at Lanzarote in 2015.

“I’m very happy that I get to defend my title for the 4th time in a row. I do believe I have a special bond with Langkawi. The people are friendly and nice and I get to see sea gulls every time I’m here. I think that is pretty special. The three disciplines went well for me. I love the rain this time and managed to adapt to it in no time.” exclaimed Riesler.

Fellow German Mareen Hufe, who has established an outstanding record and is always tough late in the year, took over as the chaser when Wassner’s challenge faded. She managed to close the gap late on the run but never threatened the final result, finishing second in 9:27:23. Frenchwoman Manon Genêt earned her first podium in her rookie year as a professional, finishing third.

Romain Guillaume, like Riesler, was always in command in the men’s race. The BMC-Etixx Team professional was out of the swim with Balazs Csoke (Hungary), Daniil Sapunov (Ukraine) and Christian Kramer (Germany).

He pushed hard early to establish a break to have eight minutes at 100km and over 10 minutes buffer off the bike.  He was able to run within himself to finish with a course record with the time of 8:32:53.

An emotional Guillaume said, “I’m really glad that I finally won the 2017 IRONMAN Malaysia title. I’ve experienced many setbacks while trying to win the most-coveted title in triathlon. I learned from my past years’ mistakes and made sure that I don’t repeat them again.”

“I was motivated to come and participate again because Langkawi has a special place in my heart. The island is beautiful, and the people are friendly and nice. They were always cheering for me. I dedicate my win to my loved ones who have always been there for through my ups and downs. I promise to come again next year to defend my title. It’s nice to know that I also beat the record for this year.” continued Guillaume.

Denmark’s Jens Petersen-Bach showed the best running legs to move through to second less than four minutes behind the winner with German Roman Deisenhofer, in his first year as a pro, scoring his first podium in third place nearly eight minutes behind the winner.

It marks his third victory at the distance for Guillaume to go with wins at Mont Tremblant in 2012 and Lanzarote in 2014 along with three IRONMAN 70.3 victories.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS