In the era of the coronavirus, some sports are getting creative and none more so than the triathlon. With races now moved online, it turns out that working from home poses embarrassing and unexpected technical glitches, even for athletes!
The Australian triathlete Mirinda Carfrae, a former triathlon World Champion, was competing in the inaugural Ironman VR Pro Challenge women’s race from her home in Colorado.
She was second in the race, which was broadcast live on Facebook, when disaster struck. Her husband and fellow triathlete, Tim O’Donnell, came into the room and tripped over the power cord to her smart bike, which disconnected her from the race.
Carfrae kept pedalling for the rest of the 55-mile stage, despite falling off the leader board. Her efforts were unrewarded even though she completed the race as her results could only be recorded as “unofficial.”
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In an Instagram story, the 3x World Ironman Champion did her best to find the funny side, explaining that her husband had tripped on the plug when he entered the room.
“He decided to bring my trophies in here as motivation, and when he walked around the back, he kicked out the plug,” she said, laughing on her Instagram story. “What an idiot!”
Carfrae said it might take her a little while to get over it, but she’s trying to be a good sport. For her husband’s race next weekend, she vowed not to seek revenge.
Tim is racing next weekend, and I won’t pull his cord out,” she said.
The Ironman VR Pro Challenge is part of the new Virtual Racing Series, where participants will be able to connect their devices to the platform and compete against one another, with some of the races allowing qualifying slots for the 2020 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand.
