Abbott's posed pre-race photographAustralian Leader of the Opposition and self-styled fitness template, Tony Abbott, was competitor Number 41 in a field of 1,529 to 1,540 others entered in the Ironman Australia Triathlon on Sunday 28 March 2010 at Port Macquarie.
Fifty-three year old Abbott ranked 1,425 (div.pos. 120) in the 2.4 mile swim, 1213 (div. pos. 91) in the 112 mile bike ride and, 1170 (div. pos. 83) in the 26.2 mile run leg of the triathlon - subject to adjustment.
Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the chase perhaps he really should stick with his day job. Because it really was a chase - he was still manfully pedalling through the last stages of the bike leg while the front runners were three-quarters of the way through the final run stage of the event and his own run was still dragging on long after the leading pack had passed the finish line.
It may seem a hard position to take when viewing an event with a big field over a long course, one which saw some participants fail to finish the run before the triathlon results were called.
However this is a middle-aged politician with a history of using his bare chest and crotch physical fitness to pimp for votes and, much older men on the NSW North Coast competing for pleasure in similar events in the past managed to officially finish with very respectable times under their belts.
After all, when it comes down to the crunch, most people want to see economic, environmental and social policy rather than hairy pecs in an election year.
Here is Tony's official race record.
4 comments:
I reckon you guys could probably ease up on him a bit.
There's no way I'd be able to finish the race - probably couldn't even get past the first leg - and I'm a good deal younger than Abbott.
It seems to me that this site takes a particular line against the opposition but not so much against the Government.
And in reality - all politicians and parties have their good and bad points.
We're equal opportunity critics here at North Coast Voices - any politician of whatever hue or government/opposition policy at state and federal level will be the subject of comment if the issues at hand pleases/annoys us enough.
Right now one particular politician (whose ego obviously has him believing that a flash of his pecs is a real vote winner) is not pleasing me.
Maybe admiring such a monumental
'I-am' is a bit of a male thing?
Nah... I don't actually admire him in any way. I'm still dreaming of Democrats keeping folks honest.
But whether he competes in marathons and bike rides doesn't really have any sway over whether his policies are any good, does it?
This remark made over at The Drum this arvo pretty well said it all.
Only in Australia can the leader of a major party campaign for credibility in budgie smugglers. Tony has certainly put his only spin on the term 'Parliamentary briefs'.
Completing an ironman is a great achievement, but I suspect the Australian public will face their own test of endurance as they attempt to put up with his smugness all the way to the next election.
Post a Comment