Germany’s MAURICE CLAVEL ran down Sebastian Kienle in the closing stages to win the IRONMAN African Championship last November. He recalls the greatest day of his career in a windy Port Elizabeth.

better with every metre I put into my legs. That was awesome and allowed me to push harder until I was running side by side and fighting for the lead.
A quick ‘now or never’ thought crushed my head and I attacked with still 8km to go. Now it was all about pushing as hard as I could without blowing up – not easy to manage in the strong wind.

Until 800m to go, I wasn’t sure about the win – that’s why I never looked back. But when I realised that no one was close behind me, the craziest party just began to start!

All those hard training and race miles turned into success – I was completely over the moon. The support in such difficult times was fantastic, and the last few hundred metres were just a joy and a big celebration with the spectators on the side!

What a great and absolutely honest day of racing it was, the greatest of my career so far! The trip was quick and dirty (I flew out on Monday) but scored 100/100 points. I’ll never forget the magic moments in that magic place – thanks Gqeberha!