Dirk Bockel

Dirk Bockel is a professional triathlete, born on 18 October 1976 and originally from Schwaikheim, Germany, who holds Luxembourgish nationality and raced for Luxembourg at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where he led the race for more than thirty minutes after breaking away on the cycling leg. He moved to long-distance racing in 2009, finishing third at his first Ironman in New Zealand and winning Ironman 70.3 Florida, the first win of an Ironman event by a Luxembourger. He placed seventh at the Ironman World Championships in Kona in 2009 and fourth in 2011, then won Ironman Regensburg in 2012, Challenge Roth in 2013 in 7:52:01 and the Asia-Pacific title at Ironman Melbourne in 2014. He retired in January 2017, left the sport section of the Luxembourg military, and has since worked as a race commentator and author on triathlon training.