Glen Forrest high-performance athlete Amos Gollach won the World Ironman Championships in the 18-24 years category in Kona, Hawaii, last weekend.
Gollach (24) is the third resident from the area in succession to win the championship for the age group. Matt Burton, from the Swan Valley, was the M18-24 Ironman World Champion in 2011 and 2012.
The Kona event is one of the world’s toughest one-day endurance races. It consists of a 3.8km open-water swim, a 180km cycle ride and a full marathon (42km) run.
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READ NOWGollach battled the heat, humidity, wind and endless climbs on the cycle leg that severely tested his resolve.
In the M18-24 group of 48 athletes, first out of the swim-leg was Pierre-Marc Doyon of Canada.
Gollach was only 23rd out of the water but managed to close the gap in the last 32km of the cycle leg to be third off the bike.
By the start of the 42km marathon, Austrian Christoph Schlagbauer enjoyed an 11min lead.
Gollach took over second place early in the run and caught the Austrian at the 30km mark. He went on to win the championship by more than two minutes in a time of 9 hours, 1 minute and 15 seconds. Schlagbauer (9:03:22) was second and Johan Karner (Sweden) third in 9:17:57.
The win capped a brilliant year for the West Australian, who also set a new age group course record of 9:06 in the Cairns Ironman.