Triathlon Drama im Triathlon
The young German collapses one meter from the finish
As of: 8:57 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Fight to the last centimeter: Mika Noodt (l.) and the Frenchman Mathis Margirier are fighting for first place
Quelle: Challenge Family
Until shortly before the finish, 23-year-old triathlon professional Mika Noodt looked like the winner. But after 3:38 hours a crime thriller ensues – with a dramatic end for the German. He reaches the goal on all fours.
Only 100 meters more, then it’s done, then victory is his. Professional triathlete Mika Noodt (23) fights, every step seems to be torture. With the finish line and the winner’s ribbon in front of his eyes, the footsteps of the rushing Frenchman Mathis Margirier in his ears, the young Wolfsburg resident mobilizes the last reserves of energy. 3:38 hours have passed. The Frenchman runs up one, maximum two meters with expansive strides, his pace is higher, the distance is only centimeters. They are now side by side, the winner’s ribbon within reach – but Noodt falls. Not even a meter from the end. And crawls to the finish on all fours in the confetti rain. He turns onto his back and remains lying there because of exhaustion.
A dramatic finish. It happened during the middle distance race of the Challenge Vieux Boucau on the French Atlantic coast. 1.9 kilometers of swimming, 90 kilometers of cycling, 21.1 kilometers of running – and in the end the two best professional athletes of the day were separated by just one second. The winning time was 3:38:10 hours. “Hats off to Mathis and Mika for a great finish,” said British Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, who finished sixth. With so much fight and drama, the women’s victory by Caroline Pohle from Leipzig was a little lost (4:04:43 hours). The Germans’ successful day was completed by Leipzig 70.3 world champion Rico Bogen, also only 23 years old, in third place and Frederic Funk (26) in fifth place.
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What happened to Noodt? He had stumbled, clearly visible. But perhaps you stumbled very unluckily, the unlucky person of the day? No, his body just didn’t want to anymore. “It’s crazy, I gave it my all, but I lost control of my legs,” said Noodt afterwards. “I have never experienced something like that. Mathis was just too fast. But that’s sport. I gave it my all.” Noodt later wrote on Instagram: “What a race! Huge congratulations to Mathis. A deserved win, he was simply stronger in the end. I gave everything I had in me.”
Mika Noodt, great German triathlon hope
Noodt had worked his way up on the bike in the race, in which Olympic champion Brownlee was also considered one of the top favorites, and was in the lead after about 80 kilometers and was first onto the running course. He controlled the race and had created a gap, even if he was never able to completely shake off Rico Bogen. And then Brownlee turned up the heat and came within 20 seconds of Noodt. In the end, however, it was Margirier who had the most reserves of strength and ran closer and closer to the young German.
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“It was really tough today,” said the Frenchman. “I had no energy left, but when I saw Mika slow down, I could sprint – and he couldn’t.”
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But who actually is Mika Noodt? The Wolfsburg native is no longer unknown in the triathlon world. The 23-year-old has long been considered a great talent who could be at the forefront of the Ironman World Championships in the not too distant future. That is exactly his goal. So far, Noodt is still concentrating on the middle distance, which is half as long. Most recently, he was slowed down by health problems and bad luck with falls, but then made impressive comebacks: After an injury to the hip and pelvis area in the spring of 2022, he impressed six months later in fourth place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St. George/Utah. The goals for 2023 were then high.
But then the next setback followed: Noodt broke his fibula when he crashed his bike in April of this year. After his comeback in August at the PTO Asian Open in Singapore, he finally won the Ironman 70.3 in Augusta in September. And now this dramatic finish. Not a victory, but a courageous fight that will probably bring him more attention than many previous successes.
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