
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 16, 1994                   TAG: 9410180052
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII                                LENGTH: Short

AUSSIE WINS 1ST IRONMAN

Greg Welch of Australia held off a strong challenge from 40-year-old Dave Scott on Saturday and became the first non-American to win the Ironman Triathlon World Championship.

Welch, 29, carrying an Australia flag, crossed the finish line in 8 hours, 20 minutes, 27 seconds to chants of ``Welchy, Welchy.''

``It has taken me so long,'' said Welch, who competed in six consecutive Hawaii Ironman races before sitting out last year with a leg injury.

Welch won the Ironman race in Japan in July.

Scott, a six-time winner from Boulder, Colo., came out of retirement to seek his seventh victory. He was competing here for the first time since losing a close race to Mark Allen in 1989.

``It was a hard eight hours, but second place ... I'll take it,'' said Scott, who finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle race and 26.2-mile run in 8:24:32.

Jeff Devlin of Downington, Pa., was third in 8:31:55, followed by Jurgen Zack of Germany in 8:34 and Olaf Sabatschus, also of Germany, in 8:34:40.

Paula Newby-Fraser, of Encinitas, Calif., representing her native Zimbabwe, won the women's race for the seventh time. Her time was 9:20:17, about 22 minutes off her winning pace last year.

by CNB