Ironmanlife: Tough Chrissie Wellington

Kevin Mackinnon reports on the world's toughest athletes

Can you imagine putting together a list of the world's 25 toughest athletes and putting a golfer ahead of an Ironman champion? OK, the golfer is Tiger Woods, who is possibly one of the greatest athletes ever seen on this planet ... but tougher than Chrissie Wellington (tenth on the list to Tiger's first) and Chris McCormack (not even included)?

Well, as much of a fan of Sports Illustrated as I am, I'm not buying this story posted on Si.com. Toughest? When was the last time you saw a PGA Champ head right from the 18th green to a medical tent for an IV? Woods certainly appears to be one of the fittest athletes in his sport. I imagine that if he put his mind to it, he'd not only finish in Kona, he'd finish pretty well. Can you imagine some of the guys he dusts on a regular basis on the Queen K, though?

Now I wouldn’t have much of an argument if they named Lance Mackey (second on the list) as that toughest athlete. Mackey won two 1,000 mile plus dog sled races, including the famous Iditarod, in a month … two years in a row, no less. Here’s a guy who races in 40-below temperatures with frostbitten feet and sneaks out in the middle of the night to get an edge on his competition while they’re napping. It’s hard to take that one on.

But a golfer? Sure, I’ve had some tough rounds of golf. I played in Iran a few times in temperatures that make Kona look downright balmy. One round at a Gary Player designed course in South Africa was a bit scary when the crocodiles came perilously close to one of the tees. The rough was so thick and full of wildlife that you didn’t even bother to search for a ball you hit in there. There was one round I feared my father-in-law might take me out with his golf cart.

Would I ever dream of putting one of those scorecards up on the wall next to the plaque I won in Kona in 1987? Yeah, right. Have you ever seen a race day in Kona? A good day takes some of the best, fittest and toughest athletes in the world and literally fries them.

Regardless of what I think, though, the good news is that Chrissie Wellington ended up tenth on SI’s list. 

“What makes her tough: The gritty Wellington, 31, won the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in her Kona debut. She's the first British athlete to take the event. The month before, she’d made her Ironman pro debut and won in Korea. Stunningly, she's admitted that she never used a heart-rate monitor or had a V02 max test, both required parts of any triathlete's training manual.

Defining moment: At Kona, Wellington ran a 2:59:57 marathon for a 9:08:45 winning time. "If it was a sauna on the bike, it was an oven on the run," she says.

Old school match: Paula Newby-Fraser, the eight-time Queen of Kona.”

Here’s the annoying thing, though. There actually is a good argument for putting Tiger up there first. Here’s what the story had to say on Tiger’s behalf:

“What makes him tough: Otherworldly talent, determination and focus that enables him to dominate his sport at 64 PGA wins and counting, including a recent streak of seven in a row. No one is better at sealing the deal when the heat is highest.

Defining moment: Winning by 11 strokes at Bay Hill in 2003 despite the ravages of food poisoning that made him greener than the winner's jacket at August and blowing chunks in the bushes between shots. He finished at 19 under. A mortal golfer would have been six under - as in feet.”

OK, maybe they have a point. The guy is pretty tough and I defy you to name an athlete who deals with more pressure.

But there again, anyone who finishes an Ironman is pretty tough, let alone wins her first two, as Wellington did in Korea and Kona last year. She’s competing at Ironman Australia this weekend – stay tuned to Ironman.com this weekend to see how she fares.

You can read the complete SI story at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/extramustard/03/28/25.toughest.athletes/index.html]]

You can reach Kevin Mackinnon at kevin@ironman.com Comments powered by Disqus.