Belgian Reclaims His Title

Luc Van Lierde of Belgium assumed the lead just after the start of the marathon and steadily extended it en route to claiming the 23rd Ironman Triathlon World Championship by more than five minutes with a time of eight hours, 17 minutes and 17 seconds Saturday.

The 30-year-old Van Lierde, who also won the continuous 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile marathon in 1996 and finished second last year, was 19th after the swim.

But with temperatures in the mid-70s, one of the coolest days in race history, Van Lierde steadily advanced under often cloudy skies and was sixth after the bike segment.

Lori Bowden of Canada, who gained the lead 10 miles into the run, won the women’s division in 9:13:05.

Defending champion Peter Reid of Canada finished second in the men’s race at 8:22:54, while Tim DeBoom, of Boulder, Colo., was the leading U.S. finisher, placing third in 8:25:42.

Karen Smyers, of Lincoln, Mass., the 1995 women’s winner, was second among women in 9:20:40. Fernanda Keller of Brazil, completing the event for the 12th time, placed third for the fifth time since 1994 in 9:24:30.

“I feel about the same as last time,” said Van Lierde, who set the course record of 8:04:08 in his first Ironman three years ago. “But the difference is that a few years ago, no one expected it and I didn’t expect it. But this year I worked very hard for it.”

Bowden, the wife of the second-place men’s finisher, was also never challenged after assuming the lead.

“There is just so much difference between first and second,” said Bowden, who finished sixth in 1996.

Six miles into the run, Van Lierde had built more than a one-minute lead, and his margin was never in jeopardy.

“I’ve had some bad luck in past years,” Van Lierde said. “But I’m glad I came back.”

Van Lierde is also training to hopefully compete next summer when the shorter, Olympic-distance event makes its debut in Sydney, Australia.

Also, Lothar Leder of Germany, who finished third last year and was about one minute behind as the cycling segment ended, was disqualified for drafting other cyclists.

A field of 1,470 professional and age-group amateur athletes--17 entrants shy of last year’s record--began the race at 7 a.m. at Kailua Pier under clear skies and with little wind.

More than half of the field were first-time contestants, including athletes from all 50 states and 51 countries.

Van Lierde and Bowman were each awarded $35,000 from a $250,000 purse for their overall titles.