Sam Long’s late gamble to try and bag a Kona spot in the last qualifying race for the IRONMAN World Championship may not have paid off at the weekend – but he still took plenty from the race.
The ‘Big Unit’ finished in 22nd place at IRONMAN Frankfurt behind the astonishing Kristian Blummenfelt, thus missing out on one of the six spots available for the big dance in Hawaii.
He had only found out five days before that a starting berth had become available, but working on the mindset “that literally anything is possible”, he’d decided to give it a go and travelled from his training base in Italy.
He was seven minutes adrift in the swim, 17 off the bike and crossed the line nearly 24 minutes down despite a 2:44 marathon.
You have to be in it to win it
But quoting NHL great Wayne Gretzky on his Instagram page he wrote: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Long continued: “I am proud that I had the courage to come and try @ironmantri Frankfurt.
“In the end, I fell short. However, for me there are so many positives; I actually saw some big steps in the right direction at this distance, got my Ironman itch scratched and have no regrets as I fully focus my efforts on T100 the rest of the year.
“The crowd was amazing! Huge congrats to everyone who finished.”
What’s next for Sam Long?
Chatting in the comments below his post, Long also pointed out: “You learn more when you lose than when you win.”
Long has never been afraid to travel to the globe to take on new challenges and he’s right in the mix at the top of the latest T100 standings which will be his priority over the next few months.
The next T100 race is in Ibiza at the end of September.
He’s also ranked #3 in the world and has finished on the podium five times already this season, including two wins.