British triathlete and Boulder resident Julie Dibens took first place and set the course record at the fourth Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, Fla., on Saturday. The three- time 70.3-distance champion and reigning Xterra world champion crossed the finish line at 3 hours, 59 minutes, 33 seconds as the first woman to break the four-hour barrier.
The event saw 1,438 athletes, ranging in age from 18 to 79, officially start the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. Germany’s Michael Raelert won the men’s division.
Will, Waddell in Hall.
Paralympic champions Sarah Will of Edwards and Chris Waddell, formerly of Vail, highlight a group of eight inductees to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. They are joined by adaptive skiing pioneer Jack Benedick, legendary big mountain skier Doug Coombs, noted industry writer and instructor Stu Campbell, veteran ski jumping champion Ansten Samuelstuen, the father of southern skiing Sepp Kober and longtime U.S. Ski Team press officer and journalist Paul Robbins.
Will and Waddell each won 12 medals at four Paralympic Games, with Will sweeping the gold medals in adaptive skiing competition at Salt Lake City in 2002. Waddell swept the men’s gold medals in 1994 in Lillehammer and recently made international headlines as the first paraplegic to climb Mount Kilimanjaro unassisted in September.
The induction of the Class of 2009 will take place in Colorado on April 9, 2010.
Boston’s Gorgone wins Copper.
U.S. snowboard racer Michelle Gorgone of Boston kicked off the 2010 Race to the Cup series with a win at Copper Mountain on Thursday. Gorgone was joined on the podium by Switzerland’s Simon Schooch, who won the men’s race. Justin Reiter of Steamboat Springs took second in the men’s race Thursday, just missing a second podium with a fourth-place finish on Friday. Chris Klug of Aspen was seventh in Friday’s race with Tyler Jewell of Steamboat Springs finishing ninth.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
