TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Norwegian triathlete Gustav Iden, who is well-known in Taiwan for wearing a hat with the Mandarin characters "埔鹽順澤宮" (Puyan Shunze Temple), has won again, taking the gold in the 2022 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, where he broke the event’s record on Saturday (Oct. 8).
Iden’s first win wearing the “lucky hat” came in the 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France. The win made the Taiwanese hat go viral and the Norwegian athlete has since become well-known in Taiwan. In November 2019, Iden received a warm reception when he participated in a marathon and visited the temple in central Taiwan.
The triathlon event in Hawaii was a 225-kilometer (140.6-mile) journey that included a 3.8-km swim, a 180-km bike ride, and a 42-km run. Iden made history as he won the Ironman World Championship in the fastest time the race has ever seen, clocking in at 7:40:24.
After the event, Iden posted a photo of him crossing the finish line wearing the hat, with the caption, “WORLD CHAMPION!! Would just like to thank everyone in my team for this one. Emotional victory. Kona really is special.”
The new record is 11 minutes faster than the previous record, and the Hawaii event is Iden's 10th win wearing the temple hat since 2019, CNA reported.
According to the "220 Triathlon" magazine, Iden noticed the hat lying on the ground when he was in Japan. He picked it up and wore it to win his first Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2019.
CNA quoted the Norwegian as saying that at first, he wore the hat for fun, but he kept wearing it as he feels it benefits him mentally.
(Facebook, IRONMAN video)
