Mexican athlete Crisanto Grajales won the third Ibero-American Triathlon Championship in Ferrol, Spain with a time of 1:51:27 on 14 June 2009.

Mexican athlete Crisanto Grajales beat local favourites José Miguel Pérez and Ramón Ejeda from Spain, after 1.5km swimming, 40km cycling and 10km of running.

FERROL, Spain – Mexican athlete Crisanto Grajales was crowned champion at the third Ibero-American Triathlon Championship, crossing the line in 1:51:27 after swimming 1,500m, cycling 40km and running 10km in Ferrol, northern Spain.

In the 14 June championship, Grajales beat local favourites José Miguel Pérez and Ramón Ejeda from Spain who finished second and third respectively. With a time of 1:52:37, Mexican Arturo Garza placed fourth.

Meanwhile, the parallel European Cup event was won by Frenchman Yohann Vicent, who came in six seconds faster than Grajales, in 1:51:21, and took first place on the podium.

Grajales told EFE, “I didn't swim well and the cycling was hard work. I was behind in a chasing group, but we managed to catch up with the lead”. The competition was decided in the final section on foot where Vincent proved to be the strongest runner.

According to Marca.com, “Mexico's Grajales couldn't keep the pace and achieved a well-deserved second place which makes him the new Ibero-American champion, replacing Costa Rica's Leonardo Chacón, who won in Bogotá two years ago”.

With a time of 2:07:20, the women's race was won by Danish athlete Helle Fredriksson. The silver medal went to Spain's Marina Damlaimcourt, who finished in 2:07:35, and took home the Ibero-American championship. In third place was another Spaniard, María Pujol, with a time of 2:09:02, leaving Latin American athletes out of the medals.

José Hidalgo, president of the Ibero-American Triathlon Association, told EFE, “The Ibero-American Championship is a very special and unique event. It is the only race to simultaneously include a both a European and a Latin American championship, valid for two rankings, and furthermore it decides who will be the Ibero-American champion for the next two years”.

The Third Ibero-American Triathlon Championship featured athletes from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, as well as Spain and Portugal.