Last year race week was full of nostalgia as we celebrated
25-years of the Ironman – but if you were worried that we’d be
struggling to find something to get emotional about leading up
to the big day this year, you can relax. There won’t be a person
left in their seat on Thursday night when Greg Welch is inducted
into the Ironman Hall of Fame.
There are few athletes on the planet who have brought as much
life and color to their sport as the “diminutive and dynamic
Aussie” has to ours.
The results speak for themselves. During his amazing career he
won more than 100 of the 300 races he entered. In 1994 he became
the first non-American male to win the Ironman Triathlon World
Championship. His resume also includes the 1996 World Long
Distance Triathlon Championships, 1993 World Duathlon
Championships and 1990 World Triathlon Championships. (Yes, he’s
the only triathlete to win the big four “grand slam” of
triathlon.) He is also a three-time U.S. Pro Triathlon Champion
(1992, 1993, 1999), two-time Ironman Japan winner and five-time
Triathlon World Cup champion.
While Welchy, or “Plucky,” another nickname that he goes by here
at ironmanlive.com, might have the race credentials to be one of
the most decorated triathletes ever, his competitive career
pales in comparison to the sheer joy he has brought to the
sport. People have always felt welcome when they approached the
39-year-old. His outgoing personality and incredible sense of
humor have made him possibly the most popular figure in our
sport. (If you want proof of that last statement, try walking
through the village of Kailua-Kona next to Welch this week –
it’s guaranteed to be the slowest walk you’ve ever done!)
His personality comes through even when being viewed through an
internet connection – Welch’s amazing interviews and commentary
on IronmanLive bring life and energy to the coverage of any
event.
Welch would still be competing at the highest levels if not for
a rare and life-threatening heart condition that surfaced during
the 1999 Ironman in Hawaii. Known as ventricular tachycardia,
the condition is aggravated by the high adrenalin states of
athletic competition, and Welch was forced to announce his
premature retirement from the sport in January 2000.
While he might not be able to compete any longer, he remains
busy within the sport coaching, writing and working with WTC in
their national and international broadcasts of Ironman events
and webcasts..
“We feel Greg’s contribution to the sport of triathlon, and to
Ironman in particular, is impossible to adequately describe,”
says Ben Fertic, the president of the World Triathlon
Corporation. “Whenever he entered the water in a race, he was
one-for-three to WIN. In my opinion, though, it’s what Greg has
done off the race course that is most impressive in his career.
He has worked effortlessly to promote the Ironman experience and
the sport of triathlon. His passion and drive to improve the
sport and enhance and share the Ironman experience are
unmatched, and we thank him.”
Welch and his wife Sian live in
Encinitas, California, with their two young daughters, Annie, 2,
and Emma, 15 months.
Sian will be in attendance on Thursday night for the induction
ceremony. She’ll no doubt be laughing with the rest of us –
Welchy’s been known to come up with some funny lines when
there’s a microphone in his hand. (Calling Paula Newby-Fraser a
“washed out old bag” comes to mind.)
Who knows who Welch will go after on Thursday night, but
no-doubt whoever it is will laugh right along with him. It’s
impossible not to – when you’re around Greg Welch, you’re always
going to get entertained.
