{"id":12072,"date":"2021-07-27T19:45:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T19:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.incirliseviye.com\/?p=12072"},"modified":"2021-07-27T19:45:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T19:45:58","slug":"id-be-lying-if-i-said-i-was-in-great-shape-says-mirinda-carfrae-ahead-of-challenge-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/?p=12072","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I was in great shape,” says Mirinda Carfrae ahead of Challenge Bahrain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With the strongest line-up of pro athletes ever seen at a triathlon, we didn\u2019t envy whoever had to pick names for the pre-race press conference line-up. To give you some idea of the calibre of elite rolling into the desert for the inaugural Challenge Bahrain this coming Saturday, silver medallist Lisa Norden was absent, as was former ITU world champ and fast-rising 70.3 star Tim Don and bronze medallist Jan Frodeno (although the Beijing Games gold medallist has pulled out of the race due to illness).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Taking to the elevated podia then was the following roll call of multisporting greats: 2013 Roth champion Dirk Bockel; 2 x ITU LD world champ Caroline Steffen; three-time Kona winner Mirinda Carfrae; 2014 Kona bronze medallist Rachel Joyce; Commonwealth gold medallist Jodie Stimpson; reigning IM world champ Sebastian Kienle; 2012 Kona winner Pete Jacobs; and two-time 70.3 world champion Michael Raelert.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what a few of the ladies had to say ahead of this unique and history-making event\u2026<\/p>\n

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MIRINDA CARFRAE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I was in great shape for this event. After Kona, there\u2019s always a whirlwind of activity, but I like to take every opportunity that\u2019s given to me, which has meant a lot of travel, some holiday, some work. But I think it\u2019s important to celebrate victories when they come. So what I\u2019m saying is that I\u2019m not in the best shape possible for this race. I think I\u2019m going to get beaten pretty soundly on the weekend but I\u2019m okay with that. I\u2019m happy with my year, and I\u2019ll go out there and do my best but I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s not going to be anywhere near enough for this one. Top 10 would be amazing\u201d<\/p>\n

JODIE STIMPSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really know for my pacing in Olympic distance so this is going to be a challenge as it is. But I\u2019ve been training with [Olympic silver medallist] Lisa Norden, who I\u2019m lucky has done a few. But to be honest, after the Commonwealths, which was my first champs, I was quite drained. But it\u2019s nice to have this challenge, and just getting back into training. I don\u2019t think these girls are going to do the bike slowly, they won\u2019t take it easy for me, I\u2019ll just be waiting to get to the run leg. It\u2019s been great to share a hotel with these idols, and I\u2019ve got nothing but respect for them. I\u2019m just excited to be on the start line with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

RACHEL JOYCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a super fast day and that\u2019s kept me motivated since Kona. I\u2019ve kinda had fun, some time-trials, joining a different swim group in Perth. I\u2019m excited to see the mix of athletes and I think that\u2019s going to impact on the race dynamic. But no one knows what\u2019s going to happen. I\u2019m just looking forward to throwing my hat in the ring, going for broke. It\u2019s going to be a boom or bust strategy, I think!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

CAROLINE STEFFEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMirinda says she\u2019s not in good shape, but sorry, I don\u2019t believe her! I think we\u2019re going to see some surprises on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The race gets underway at 7.30am local time (4.30am UK time) on Saturday 6 December, and a live\u00a0online feed will be broadcast on race day at\u00a0www.challenge-bahrain.com.bh. We\u2019ll be hosting a liveblog from 7am local time right here on the 220 Triathlon<\/em> website, and there will also be regular updates on our\u00a0Twitter\u00a0account.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the strongest line-up of pro athletes ever seen at a triathlon, we didn\u2019t envy whoever had to pick names for the pre-race press conference line-up. To give you some idea of the calibre of elite rolling into the desert for the inaugural Challenge Bahrain this coming Saturday, silver medallist Lisa Norden was absent, as … <\/p>\n

Read more “\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I was in great shape,” says Mirinda Carfrae ahead of Challenge Bahrain”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}