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How Perth triathlete Emily Loughnan beat the odds to win the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii

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Steve ButlerThe West Australian
VideoEmily Loughnan victorious in the 25 to 29-year-old female category at the annual Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Three years ago, Emily Loughnan lay bloodied and battered at the bottom of a Point Walter hill after a triathlon training accident on her bike.

Now the 29-year-old is on top of the world after competing in the annual ironman event in Hawaii on October 13. The East Fremantle physiotherapist was still coming to terms yesterday with the magnitude of her win in the Ironman World Championship at the gruelling Kona course.

“It’s a bit surreal and as hard as I worked for it, it has caught me by surprise a little bit,” Loughnan said after victory in the 25 to 29-year-old female category.

“It’s surpassed any expectations I had in the sport and opened up a new window for me in terms of my potential. You start crying a little bit when you cross the line and then you think, ‘Thank God, it’s over’.”

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Recently crowned Ironwoman champion Emily Loughnan, an East Fremantle physio who claimed victory in the world's biggest challenge in Kona, Hawaii.
Camera IconRecently crowned Ironwoman champion Emily Loughnan, an East Fremantle physio who claimed victory in the world's biggest challenge in Kona, Hawaii. Credit: Ian Munro

Kona is on the bucket list of every serious ironman competitor.

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Loughnan took up triathlon as a sport only four years ago while living in London and taking a break from being a middle-distance track star.

But the lofty achievement was a long way off the radar when she fell at Point Walter in 2014. Loughnan had been trying to fix the light on her bike while riding downhill when she lost control and crashed.

“I just flew over the handle-bars,” she recalled. “I ripped my jersey, there was blood everywhere and I just rode home in shock.”

Emily Loughnan was crowned world champion earlier this month
Camera IconEmily Loughnan was crowned world champion earlier this month Credit: Ian Munro

Loughnan also ruptured her prepatellar bursa in her left knee which required surgery to remove it.

But it did not dampen her triathlon spirit.

During her earlier time in London she twice trained in the Kenyan town of Iten, a hotspot for some of the world’s best runners, as she considered a return to high-level sport.

She also said a dress rehearsal in her first attempt at Kona last year had been invaluable, but it was still a testing challenge, particularly during the running leg. She finished the 3.86km swim, 180.25km ride and 42.2km run in just under nine hours and 45 minutes.

“Just the heat,” she said bluntly.

“It’s an indescribable heat and you’re just so exposed. You’re running along the Queen K Highway with the lava fields alongside it and it just feels like it’s going forever and ever.

“Then there’s the wind ... it’s another step up and it just sweeps you up. You have to come really hardened to that course in Kona and you have to respect the conditions and the terrain.”

Emily Loughnan
Camera IconEmily Loughnan Credit: Ian Munro

Loughnan was greeted at the finish line by her London-based coach Julian Nagi, who prescribes her training via weekly Skype chats. Her parents Mark and Theresa were also there, but had to wait a little longer to join in the celebrations.

“I was actually taken straight to drug-testing and it took two and a half hours to provide a urine sample,” she laughed. “It was a bit of an anti-climax.”

And to wind down the next day, Loughnan did 20, 50-metre swims in the pool and spent 40 minutes riding an exercise bike. While she also admitted to “cracking a number of bottles of champagne” on her return to Perth, she also said her physiotherapy profession was a key ally.

“I’ve been known to stick a few needles here and there into myself, but I feel lucky that I can identify things if I get a niggle and what I need to do to acutely manage it," she said.

“My sport also helps my profession. I treat a lot of local triathletes and that’s part of the reward for me, giving back to the sport.”

Now Loughnan has some serious decisions to make with thoughts of joining professional ironman ranks and making a stronger commitment to the sport.

“I feel like I’m a really fortunate person who has found something I really love,” she said. "I’m good at it, but also prepared to work really hard at it. I’m a world champion and I feel really grateful about that, but I’m not finished yet.”

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