Star Port Elizabeth event winner Kyle Buckingham is satisfied with his sixth-place finish at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Cairns, Australia on Sunday.
The weekend’s race was Buckingham’s first after being crowned the Ironman Africa champion in Port Elizabeth in April.
On Sunday, he crossed the finish line in eight hours, 12 minutes and 38 seconds behind winner Braden Currie, of New Zealand, who clocked 7:34.39.
Javier Gomez Noyo, of Spain, took second place in 7:56.39 and another New Zealander, Terenzo Bozzone, claimed third place (8:00.07).
Buckingham, 35, had a good swim, coming out of the water in 48 minutes 53 seconds, just two minutes behind the front pack. The Jendamark-sponsored athlete was the fourth professional athlete to finish in the bike leg with a time of 4:22.48.
“I am definitely not upset with sixth place today, especially in the type of field that was racing here, absolutely world class,” Buckingham wrote on social media on Sunday.
He admitted to experiencing problems on the run, which he finished in a time of 2:57:31.
“Unfortunately, I was really battling with stitches on the run, which is a first.“So the end result could have probably been better. But, that’s the true spirit of this race, giving your best shot and never giving up even though sometimes I definitely just wanted to walk – and I did, a bit.
“Nevertheless, I had a really good swim which put me in a great position to start the bike. I rode really strong in the beginning and at one stage put in a solid effort to bridge the gap to the front guys.
“I have to say this course is absolutely beautiful, and would definitely come back again.
“Congratulations to all my competition. The boys were flying up there. Huge thanks to my wife, family, friends and sponsors that make it all possible to do this every day. I couldn’t think of a better job,” he said.
Buckingham said a three-week break was needed ahead of his build-up for the Ironman World Championships in Kona in October.