For the third time in a row, the Austrian Nordic
Combined team will follow the invite of their main
sponsor Stiegl to take part in the Iron Man held
at Klagenfurt at the upcoming weekend as a team
relay.
„It is great that our main sponsor plans quite some
things with the team in summer“, head coach Christoph
Eugen explains. Our boys can use the challenge,
especially at this time of year. The atmosphere
at the Iron Man is gigantic and the athletes are
gaining experience in some new areas.“
As in the previous year, Berni Gruber will tackle
the 3,86 kilometres of swimming alone. „Starting
into the competition is something special, it’s
this blend of fear and excitement which you can
feel from all athletes. After my active career,
it’s one of my great goals to finish an Iron Man
on my own“, Gruber says.
Veterans Mario Stecher and Christoph Bieler will
split the cycling distance and Lukas Klapfer and
Triple Junior World Champion Philipp Orter will
compete in the final running race. Youngster Orter
who lives in Carinthia is looking forward to the
new challenge: „I like the triathlon and excited
to see how my body will handle the strain at this
time of year.“
