Jan Frodeno

Jan Frodeno (German pronunciation: [jan fʁoˈdeːno] ⓘ; born 18 August 1981) is a former German triathlete who is the gold medal winner in men's triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, 3-time winner of the Ironman World Championship in 2015, 2016, and 2019, and 2-time winner of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2015 and 2018. He had set the world record for the long distance in Roth, Germany in 2016 with 7:35:39 hours. In 2021, he broke his own world record during the Tributtle in Allgäu, Germany against Lionel Sanders, with a time of 07:27:53, setting a new world best for the long-distance triathlon.

Jan Frodeno
Jan Frodeno at the 2015 Ironman Germany in Frankfurt am Main.
Personal information
Nickname(s)Frodo[1]
Born (1981-08-18) 18 August 1981[1]
Cologne, Germany
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight76 kg (168 lb)[1]
Other interestsBeach Volleyball, Surfing, Cooking, Coffee [1]
Sport
CountryGermany
ClubTri-Sport Saar-Hochwald e. V.
TeamBahrain Elite Endurance Team
Coached byDan Lorang[2]
Medal record
Men's triathlon
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Men's race
Ironman World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2019Individual
Gold medal – first place 2016Individual
Gold medal – first place 2015Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2014Individual
Ironman 70.3 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2018 Nelson Mandela BayIndividual
Gold medal – first place 2015 Zell am SeeIndividual
Silver medal – second place 2014 Mont-TremblantIndividual
ITU Mixed Relay World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 HamburgMixed team relay

Athletic career

Born in Cologne, Frodeno started out as a swimmer in South Africa at the age of 15, and he entered triathlon in 2000.[3] He then went to Germany to compete in the Triathlon-Bundesliga, and qualified for the national team in 2002.[3] As part of the national team he trained at the Olympic Training Centre in Saarbrücken.[1] Before his Olympic victory, his best result was placing sixth in the 2007 World Championships,[4] and winning the German Championship the same year.[5] He had previously also placed second and third in various races of the World Cup from 2005 to 2008.[4]

Frodeno's gold medal win at the 2008 Summer Olympics was a surprise.[6] He beat the 2000 Olympic champion Simon Whitfield in a sprint finish, while the hot pre-race favorite and 2008 World Champion Javier Gómez finished in fourth place.[6] The victory came the day after his twenty-seventh birthday. Frodeno continued to perform strongly in 2009 and 2010, finishing 4th overall in the World Championship Triathlon Series both years. He was on course to become World Champion in 2010, needing only a 4th place in the Series Grand Final in Budapest, but due to an injury struggled to a 41st-place finish, losing the Overall title to Javier Gómez.

Frodeno returned to the Olympics in 2012 to compete in the men's triathlon event where he would finish 6th.[7] The next year, in 2013, he retired from the shorter standard and sprint triathlon after winning a gold medal as part of the German team in the mixed relay triathlon world championships in Hamburg.[8] He subsequently switched to longer distance endurance triathlons,[9] finishing second at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 European Championships in Wiesbaden[10] and scoring his first Ironman 70.3 win at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Championship in Auckland.[11] In 2008 he said the long-distance triathlons usually are for people who failed to thrive on the shorter distances.[12][13] He finished third on his full-length Ironman debut at the Ironman European Championship[14] and also finished third at the 2014 Ironman World Championship on his World Championship debut.[15]

In 2015 Frodeno suffered a cycling injury that took him out of the inaugural Challenge Dubai. Instead he made his season debut at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, winning the event while edging out Andy Potts and Lionel Sanders. Following Oceanside, Frodeno took 2nd at Cannes Triathlon and 1st at Ironman 70.3 Barcelona. He went on to win the Ironman European Championship on home soil in Frankfurt, winning with a lead of over ten minutes and breaking the course record by over five minutes.[16] He won the 2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championship defeating Sebastian Kienle and the defending champion Javier Gómez.[17][18]

On October 10, 2015, he made history, becoming the first triathlete, male or female, to win both the Olympic Triathlon Gold and the Ironman World Championship title.[19][20] He won over a field that included defending champion Kienle, 2013 champion Frederik Van Lierde, Andy Potts, and Andreas Raelert. He began with a strong swim where he exited and transitioned onto the bike along with Potts and Dylan McNeice at the front, pulling away from the other leaders on the bike, and completing with one of the fastest marathon runs of the day.

On July 17, 2016, in Roth Germany, he improved the world record for the long distance by more than 5 minutes to 7:35:39 hours. The previous record was held by Andreas Raelert. His split times were 45:22 minutes swim, 4:09:22 hours bike and 2:40:35 hours for the marathon. Joe Skipper of Great Britain finished second place with a time of 7:56:23 hours.[21]

He won his second Ironman World Championship in October 2016, pulling away from 2014 champion and countryman Sebastian Kienle early on the run. Like in his 2015 victory he did not produce the races fastest split in any portion of the race but was very solid throughout. With Patrick Lange taking 3rd place, it was the first sweep by a country since 1997, when Germany also managed the feat with Thomas Hellriegel, Jürgen Zäck, and Lothar Leder.

He won his second Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September 2018, defeating his fellow Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and defending champion Javier Gomez. However shortly after this victory he suffered a sacral fracture in his lower back as he was travelling home. This injury ruled him out of competition for the remainder of the year.

His third Ironman World Championship win in 2019 came 13 months after the back injury that ended his hopes of starting at the 2018 World Championship. He broke the course record- previously held by Patrick Lange- by 1 minute and 26 seconds, finishing in a time of 7:51:13, becoming the third triathlete to complete the World Championship in under 8 hours. His fellow countryman Sebastian Kienle finished in third, while Americans Tim O’Donnell and Ben Hoffman finished in second and fourth places, respectively.

On July 18, 2021, he set a time of 7:27:53 hours on a long distance course. His only opponent was Lionel Sanders who finished in a time of 7:43:32 hours. The duel was named Tri Battle Royale with a finish in Burgberg.[22]

Personal

Frodeno is married to Emma Snowsill, the gold medalist in women's triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[11]

References
  1. Frodeno, Jan. "Characteristics". frodeno.com. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. "Profile". frodeno.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  3. Frodeno, Jan. "Career". frodeno.com. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  4. "Athlete Biography, Frodeno, Jan". Beijing 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-08-23. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  5. Frodeno, Jan. "Results". frodeno.com. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  6. "Germany's Frodeno shocks triathlon stars". AFP. 2008-08-18. Archived from the original on 2008-08-23. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  7. "London 2012 Triathlon,Individual Men Final". olympics.org. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  8. "NZ triathlon team finish second at World Champs in Hamburg". 3news.co.nz. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  9. Vannisselroy, Brenton (4 January 2014). "Ironman: Alexander, Frodeno sign on to Auckland 70.3". Radio Sport. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  10. Moraglia, Daniele (12 August 2013). "Alessandro Degasperi bronzo all'Ironman 70.3 European Championship di Wiesbaden" [Alessandro Degasperi bronze at Ironman 70.3 European Championship in Wiesbaden]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  11. "Frodeno, Morrison Claim Honors at IRONMAN 70.3 Auckland". World Triathlon Corporation. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  12. Eggebrecht, Harald (2020-05-13). "Detail". Triathlon auf tri2b.com | das Tri-Portal für Einsteiger bis zum Profi (in German). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  13. "Das ist Jan Frodeno: So lebt, so liebt unser Triathlon-Wunder". bild.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  14. "38 things to know about Kona". espn.go.com. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  15. "Photo - Jan Frodeno of Germany celebrates his third place finish at the 2014 Ironman World Championship". Yahoo! News. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  16. Hichens, Liz (6 July 2015). "Frodeno & Ryf crowned Ironman European Champions". Triathlon Europe. Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  17. Hitchen, Liz (30 August 2015). "Jan Frodeno, Daniela Ryf Claim Ironman 70.3 World Titles". Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  18. Baird, Matt (30 August 2015). "Frodeno and Ryf take Ironman 70.3 Worlds". 220 Triathlon. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  19. "Jan Frodeno wins Ironman World Championship seven years after Olympic gold". NBC Sports. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  20. Barber, Jennifer Ward (10 October 2015). "Jan Frodeno Golden in Hawaii". World Triathlon Corporation. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  21. "Frodeno Sets World Record At Challenge Roth". Triathlete. 19 July 2016.
  22. "Nach Schrecksekunde vor Ziel: Frodeno pulverisiert Triathlon-Weltrekord". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
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