Craig Alexander says he is ‘‘just too old and too stupid to roll over and give in” but that doggedness earned the Sydney triathlete stunning back-to-back world ironman titles. Alexander, 36, won the gruelling Hawaiian Ironman – a 3.8 kilometre swim, a 180km bike ride and 42.2km run – on the lava fields of Kona in October, replicating his feat of a year earlier. The defending champion pulled back eight places on the ‘‘insane’’ pace of the bike leg, battled with the eventual third place getter Andreas Raelert of Germany for several kilometres and then eventually caught the early pacesetter Chris Lieto, of the United States, before surging away for a two-minute victory. Alexander’s triumphant time was eight hours, 14 minutes, four seconds. Alexander now stands alongside other famed triathletes Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom as the only men to have conquered the infamous race more than once. “It’s great to win a race when everything goes to plan, but to have to fight and scrap for it ... to have to dig so deep and come away with a win like that is another feeling yet again,” he said. Jacquelin Magnay
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