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Zucht completes Ironman Worlds

Sports briefs: Lumpy's Trifecta winners; Peiffers officially crack FWT
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On the run Whistler's Marla Zucht completed the Ironman World Championships event in Hawaii on Oct. 13. Photo submitted

Marla Zucht once again completed the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, on Oct. 13.

Competing in the women's 45-to-49 age category, the Whistler resident finished in 11 hours, 45 minutes and 49 seconds to place 49th overall in her division at the premier event on the Ironman calendar.

Zucht started out with the 54th-best swim (3.86 kilometres) in her category before completing the 49th-best cycling time (180.25 km) as well as the 49th-best run result (42.2 km).

Overall winners were Patrick Lange of Germany, who bested his own course record from last year and became the first competitor to finish in under eight hours, as well as Switzerland's Daniela Ryf, who broke her 2016 course record by over 20 minutes.

Full results are available online at www.ironman.com.

Lumpy's Trifecta crowns champs

Twenty-six entries completed the Lumpy's Trifecta mountain-bike race in Pemberton on Oct. 13.

In the men's division, Chris Clarke scored the win with a time of one hour, 33 minutes and 45 seconds (1:33:45) to best Mike Legare and Stuart Wyllie. On the women's side, Robin O'Neill finished in 2:08:45 to knock off Hillary Harrison and Paula Keohan.

Peiffers officially crack FWT

Tom and Liam Peiffer, twins and Whistler Freeride Club alums, have both officially cracked the Freeride World Tour.

In a release on Oct. 16, the duo was officially named as two of the 22 male skiers set to compete this year. The Peiffers will be the only two Canadians, as Pemberton's Logan Pehota chose not compete this season. Pehota took second overall in his rookie season of 2016 before placing 11th in 2017 and 10th in 2018.

Canada, however, will also be represented in the women's snowboard division as Nicole Kelly of Golden, B.C. made the cut.

In all, 48 skiers and snowboarders will compete on the circuit this year. Action begins in Hakuba, Japan in January.

WSL launches 2018-19 kids' programming

Whistler Sport Legacies (WSL) recently revealed its youth programming for the upcoming season.

At the Whistler Sliding Centre, WSL is bringing back its one-time Discover programs for the sliding sports, with luge for those eight-and-older, skeleton for those 14-and-up, and bobsleigh for those 16-and-older. Athletes who want to return can receive consistent coaching through weekly programming, or three- or five-day pilot schools for skeleton and bobsleigh.

At Whistler Olympic Park, programming includes cross-country skiing, biathlon and ski jumping. Nordic multi-sport camps will be offered over winter and spring breaks, as well as weekly on Saturdays in January and February. Specific ski-jumping opportunities are also available.

A full list of programs and more information is available at www.whistlersportlegacies.com/youthprograms.

Far Out to premiere Saturday

Teton Gravity Research's latest ski movie is coming to town on Saturday.

Far Out is set to have two showings on Oct. 20 at Maury Young Arts Centre, with an early show at 7 p.m. and a late show at 9 p.m. Tickets for the early show are $15 for those 11-and-older and $10 for kids 10-and-under, while late show tickets are $20.

The film, which features Colorado skier Sean Jordan, takes viewers all over the world, from the Albanian and Slovenian Alps to the Purcell Mountains to Kamchatka.

More information and tickets are available at www.artswhistler.com.

Halfpipe skier Hansen retires

Freestyle skier Keltie Hansen announced her retirement on Oct. 11.

Hansen, 26, was one of the first members of Canada's halfpipe team in 2011 and competed at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia. Originally from Edmonton, Hansen enjoyed her finest season in 2011 when she placed fourth overall in the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) standings and won the World Championships.

Hansen, who made her World Cup debut in 2009 at the age of 16, took 10 top-10 finishes over the course of her career, but was beset by injury problems in recent years. Hansen missed the 2015-16 season due to injury and hit the top 10 just once after returning the following season.

"I have so many amazing memories from being on the national team, it's hard to just pick one," Hansen said in a release. "I made the team back when I was 19 years old, and I couldn't believe that there was finally a national team for me to make! And I was going be one of the first women to be on it."