Kristian
Blummenfelt
Norway
·
Triathlon
Date of birth | 14 February 1994 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Bergen |
Age | 31 |
Nationality | Norway |
Career start | 2013 |
Disciplines | Triathlon Ironman / Triathlon Olympic Distance |
Training with his hometown Bergen Triathlon Club in Norway for up to eight hours every single day, often in freezing conditions, has really paid off for Kristian Blummenfelt. Each week he covers astonishing distances, swimming up to 45km, cycling around 400km and running up to 120km.
This intense training regime has helped Kristian to deliver some impressive performances throughout his triathlon career. Since 2016 he has achieved numerous top three finishes in the most competitive ITU World Triathlon Series events everywhere from Bermuda and Canada to the Netherlands and Japan.
Kristian also competed at the Games in 2016 and entered numerous Ironman competitions. In 2017 he won the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championships and one year later proved his world-class status by not only successfully defending his title, but doing so with a world record time of 3h 29m 04s.
During the 2019 season, Kristian achieved his first career gold at ITU World Triathlon Series level at the Grand Final in Lausanne. He then capped the year off in style by winning the 70.3 Ironman Middle East Championships for the third year running and beating his own world record time, setting a new mark of 3h 25m 21s.
With few triathlon events taking place in 2020, Kristian took the time to focus on his training, a decision which paid dividends the following year when the Norwegian claimed a gold medal at the Games in Tokyo. He followed that up by winning the World Triathlon Championship Series crown for good measure.
Just a few months later, Kristian stepped up to race the full Ironman distance for the very first time in Cozumel, Mexico, and stunned the triathlon world by completing the fastest Ironman in history with a record time of 7h 21m 12s in an extraordinary performance.
With that record under his belt, Kristian made more history at the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Utah, USA, where he beat off illness to win the title at his very first attempt, meaning he now concurrently holds the Olympic, World Triathlon Championship Series and IRONMAN titles.
Not content with this incredible run of remarkable achievements, Kristian then became the first athlete in history to complete the Ironman distance in under seven hours. With the help of a a team of 10 pacers, the Norwegian produced a superhuman effort to finish in 6h 44m and 26s.