It was one of the worst days of condition that the Nutri-Grain IronSeries has seen in some time, but the highs wind, big swells, and subsequent carnage weren’t enough to provide us with new victors, as Ali Day and Harriet Brown crossed the finish line first for the second time in two days.
Further back in the field it was a free for all, including one certain moment that may prove costly to the title race, but as the saying goes, ‘winners find a way’, and they certainly did on a windswept day at Kurrawa.
The format of round 4 was ‘Super Sprint’, a two-race setup in which the results of the first race determined a handicap for the second.
The winner of the first race starts first in the second race, the second-place athlete starts three seconds afterward, and so on until the final athlete, starting almost a full minute after the leader.
While this headstart proved helpful for some, for others it was less of a blessing and more of a curse.
IronWoman Round 4 - 1st: Harriet Brown, 2nd: Georgia Miller, 3rd: Danielle Mckenzie
On a windy Kurrawa beach, so windy that handlers were told to hold athletes craft to prevent them flying away, the first race of the women’s round 4 went according to plan, the usual suspects of Courtney Hancock, Lana Rogers, and Harriet Brown taking the top three starting positions for race two.
But come the end of race two, while Harriet Brown was once again on top, for the time this season Lana Rogers was not in the top three.
What a race!!! Another dominant performance from Harriet Brown in Round 4 💪 That makes it 3 wins for Harriet so far in the @NutriGrainAU #ironseries.@BMDnorthcliffe @lifesavingqld #ironseries #unstoppable @destgc #MajorEventsGoldCoast #playgoldcoast pic.twitter.com/JXOvpRb9pt
— IronSeries (@IronSeries) February 4, 2022
The reigning champion was nowhere near the medals.
This was because during the ski leg, Rogers lost her ski, and may have very well lost her title.
Coming in behind Brown was Georgia Miller, back from injury and back on the podium, and rounding out the medals for the second round straight was Danielle Mckenzie.
IronMan Round 4 - 1st: Ali Day, 2nd: Matt Bevilacqua, 3rd: Jy Timperley
He won the first race.
He won the second race.
He won yesterday.
He’s won ten straight.
Ali Day was clinical in his tenth straight win, winning the first race of round 4 to secure his headstart, and from there he did not get overtaken again, leading from start to finish, and extending his lead from three seconds to over 15.
As commentator Josh Minogue put it, Bevilacqua’s goal wasn’t even to beat Day, it was to be next to him.
DOUBLE DIGITS for Ali Day 🔟 🥇 It sure was windy at Kurrawa Beach today, but it was Ali Day who blew us away (again) in Round 4! That's now 10 consecutive wins for this #unstoppable @NutriGrainAU IronMan.@lifesavingqld #ironseries @destgc #MajorEventsGoldCoast #playgoldcoast pic.twitter.com/Xoytvr9suI
— IronSeries (@IronSeries) February 4, 2022
But despite the conditions, Day has once again proved that the only person capable of slowing him down is himself.
Bevilacqau took silver, again, and Timperley took bronze, again, as yesterday’s podium repeated itself.
Spare a thought for TJ Hendy, who finished 3 and a half minutes after the rest of the pack in the first race after being smashed by the surf.
The top three of the series are already clear.
If we’re being honest, so is the winner.
The only question that remains: can Ali Day really stay perfect for two years?
