Sweden European Gold Championship in Frankfurt | SVT Sport

In 2018, he won the silver medal at the European Championships after running in just over eight hours.

Three years later, Patrick Nelson can now claim the title of European Champion in the Ironman distance.

On Sunday, he was the first to cross the finish line when the tournament was decided in Frankfurt, Germany. Victory time? 7.59.21.

– Stupid! It’s really cool. The most important thing was that I won, says Patrick Nelson, and that being for eight hours was a bonus.

“don’t hurt too much”

However, there was no straight path to gold. But despite some problems while swimming, and despite the chain hopping on the bike and bent, the body answered just as Nelson wanted. It gave him the strength to catch the title and walk behind the leader during the last round.

– She only drives as long as she works. But I never think my thighs have been hurt as much as they are today. It was a new level of pain today.

To what extent do you rate this?

– The European Championship gold in itself ranked highly, but the performance itself I am not happy with. I could have done it faster and better. But the mental performance, to come back, was very good.

Ready for the World Cup

It was the 29-year-old’s first gold medal at the European Championships, and he already knew there was a good chance for the noblest sect.

Have you ever been as good as you are today?

– No, I really don’t think so. There are few times I have had such continuous training over such a long period. He says that throughout the pandemic, she has remained healthy and there have been no infections.

In second place was his Danish teammate Christian Hugenhog (57 seconds) and third David McNamee (3.01 behind Nelson) from Great Britain.

Thus, the Swede qualifies for the World Cup, which will be decided later this fall in Hawaii. In 2017, Patrick Nelson made his debut in the restroom, then took eighth place.

– It’s a fun race, everyone is there. It’s so good it got there really well, so it only needs to be preserved now until then.