Normann Stadler claims his second Ford Ironman World Championship

Normann Stadler’s second Ford Ironman World Championship title in 2006 means more to him than his first, he said at yesterday’s press conference.

“It was bigger than 2004,” he said. “Winning once is a dream. Winning twice – you’re one of the big boys now. I’m so proud of myself.” Last year, when he arrived here in Kona as the defending champion, Stadler’s luck seemed to desert him. Two flats forced him out of the race.

His luck didn’t change much at the Frankfurter Sparkasse Ironman European Championship when he tried to defend that title earlier this year, too. Two crashes on the bike eventually forced him to walk the final kilometers of the run. Instead of enjoying another win, he found himself just happy to get to the finish line.

Suddenly many people were questioning whether or not he had what it takes to repeat as the champion here in Kona.

“Some people asked me if I thought I could still win,” he said. “I asked them why they were even asking me those things. If I didn’t think I could win, I wouldn’t be here. And I knew I could win.”

Those of us watching from the outside seemed to think that Stadler’s attitude took a dramatic shift in August of 2004, when he arrived in San Diego for his pre-Kona training camp, and appeared to be much more serious and focused than ever. Stadler doesn’t see it that way. For him there was no dramatic shift in performance ... the fitness we saw in 2004 was the culmination of years of training.

“You learn so much over the years. I started triathlon in ’88,” he said. “Now it’s paying off. Now I train a lot of high quality. It works. I have no coach. I’m guy who likes to go out and have a regular life.”

The key to his Kona success, Stadler feels, is that six week block of training he does every year before the Ford Ironman World Championship.

“For six weeks I am nothing but an athlete,” he said. “No Sarah (his girlfriend). No chocolate, no junk food. I know I have to be that focused, because it’s our big day here in Hawaii. It’s big for me. It’s big for Germany.”

Beyond the focus, though, Stadler feels that to win here in Kona you must experience the event, and be prepared for the level of competition, and exposure, this event draws.

“You need so many years here to win here,” he said. “It’s easy to win in Germany. It’s easy to win Australia. I won Australia twice, and I got no sponsors. People only know Hawaii, and Frankfurt now.” All that exposure made Stadler a huge personality in his home country when he won two years ago, and now he’s anticipating more of the same.

“I’ll have a lot of appearances,” he said. “There was a lot of stuff before this race – a lot of attention about the Faris and Normann battle. Now it’s pay day.”

It sure is. All the years, all the dedication, all the sacrifice ... they have resulted in yet another World Championship title, one that puts Normann Stadler an exclusive category – a multiple Ford Ironman World Champion.

2006 Ironman World Championship

Mens' Results

1. Normann Stadler (DEU) 8:11:56
2. Chris McCormack (AUS) 8:13:07
3. Faris Al-Sultan (DEU) 8:19:04
4. Rutger Beke (BEL) 8:21:04
5. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 8:22:28
6. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 8:24:17
7. Luke Bell (AUS) 8:24:26
8. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:25:22
9. Chris Lieto (USA) 8:27:37
10. Patrick Vernay (NCL) 8:28:13

1. Michellie Jones (AUS) 9:18:31
2. Desiree Ficker (USA) 9:24:02
3. Lisa Bentley (CAN) 9:25:18
4. Gina Kehr (USA) 9:27:24
5. Katherine Allen (AUT) 9:30:22
6. Kate Major (USA) 9:31:53
7. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 9:32:48
8. Belinda Granger (AUS) 9:35:48
9. Melissa Ashton (AUS) 9:38:22
10. Natascha Badmann (CHE) 9:38:52

Used by the gold medal winners in the womens’ marathon at the Sydney and Athens Olympics.

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