The only German Hawaii winner stops: Triathlete Anne Haug surprisingly ends her career.
The 42-year-old world-class triathlete simply can no longer be a professional after a decades and a half. “I always lived for my sport, but through the race in Spain I know: the point has now been reached, I end my career”she told the “world”.
After two difficult years with many setbacks, she had at the Ironman Vitora-Gasteiz on July 13, after less than ten kilometers, have to give up on the running route. “I couldn’t imagine running the marathon anymore”said Haug: “I have never had that in my life, and it was actually clear to me that something broke somehow in my head that could no longer be repaired.” For herself, she always had the rule to stop when her willpower is no longer strong enough to overlap over the body, the Bayreuther emphasized.
At the beginning of the year thrombosis in mind
A year ago, Haug had the German triathlon classic Challenge Roth swimming over the world over 3.8 kilometers, 180 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers running in 8:02:38 hours. However, her greatest success was the victory at the Ironman World Cup 2019 in Hawaii.
The past two years have been from “Very strange diseases” Has been shaped, she said. After a Corona infection, she developed a diabetes, and at the beginning of this year she suffered thrombosis. The lack of consistency in training had already doubted them. “I was just afraid of my body”said Haug.
Haug, the fighter
After the disappointment at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, she switched to the longer distances with 36th place. At the 2012 games in London, she had ranked eleventh. Due to her size of 1.64 meters and a weight of around 50 kilograms, she always had to play out her outstanding running qualities on the longer distances – and Haug often did that in impressive manner until the head and body just didn’t want any more.