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T. J. Tollakson

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Trenton Joel Tollakson
Personal information
NicknameT. J.
Born (1980-08-12) August 12, 1980 (age 44)
USA
Sport
CountryUSA
SportTriathlon, Ironman

Trenton Joel Tollakson (born August 12, 1980) is a US triathlete, ironman champion (2011, 2014) and North American champion (2014).

Career

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Tollakson ran his first triathlon in July 2001, and he has been a professional triathlete since 2005. In July 2011, he achieved his first long-distance victory at Lake Placid (3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and 42.195 km running).

In August 2014 he won his second ironman race at the Ironman Mont-Tremblant with a new course record and won the North American Championships.

In November 2016 he was - as in the previous year - third at the Ironman Arizona.

In May 2019 he won the Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast, his third Ironman 70.3 race.

In June 2021, T. J. retired from the pro field. His last professional race was the Ironman 70.3 in his home town of Des Moines, IA where he finished 12th.[1]

Dimond Bikes

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In 2011 T. J. founded his own manufacturing company Dimond Bikes in Des Moines, IA. Starting when T. J. won his first Ironman at Lake Placid New York on a modified and re-branded Zipp 2001 beam bike manufactured in 1996. This 15 year old bicycle was wind tunnel tested as one of the fastest bicycles at the time and Tollakson used his knowledge of these wind tunnels and connections with current employees at Zipp to procure and modify the Zipp bike for racing. Tollakson tried to convince Zipp to start manufacturing the Zipp 2001, and after Zipp declined interest they instead offered support in helping Tollakson make his own. Tollakson and few Zipp employees redesigned the Zipp 2001 beam bike frame and by May 2012 the first prototypes of the original Dimond Bike were designed. In August 2012 Tollakson raced the one and only Ironman NYC on his new prototype frame. In November 2013 the first mass production of Dimond bikes out of their factory in Des Moines, IA was launched. It was at Ironman Arizona that the Dimond Bike premiered along with the wind tunnel reports confirming its spot at the top of the list of “ world's fastest bikes”.[2] In 2016, Dimond Bikes launched a new model of beam bike called the Dimond Marquise featuring improved aerodynamics and refined integrated storage solutions.[3] In 2018 they released a disc brake version of the Marquise at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI. In 2019 the company released yet another beam bike model titled the Dimond Mogul. The Mogul combines superior aerodynamic underbody improvements with the integrated storage of the Marquise.[4]

Personal life

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TJ is a 1999 graduate of Ankeny High School where he earned 11 varsity athletic letters (4x Cross Country, 2x Swimming, 1x Wrestling, 4x soccer).[5] He played soccer his freshman year of college at Boston University. He transferred to the University of Iowa where he was a charter member of the Iowa TriHawk club triathlon team. TJ graduated from the University of Iowa in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science Engineering in Industrial Engineering with a Technological Entrepreneurship Certificate. He has been married to Ashley Tousley since January 2011 and they both live in Des Moines, USA with their 3 children.[6]

Sporting successes

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Triathlon short and middle distance
Date/Year Position Competition Location Time Remarks
2006 7 Eagleman Ironman 70.3  United States Cambridge (Maryland) 04:04:47
10 June 2007 1 Eagleman Ironman 70.3  United States Cambridge (Maryland) 03:46:28.60
2007 3 Vineman Ironman 70.3  United States Sonoma County
2010 7 Ironman 70.3 Florida  United States Orlando 03:58:59 With a very fast cycle race T. J. went into the running as the leader, but then fell back several places.[7]
25 April 2010 7 Ironman 70.3 Texas  United States Galveston Island 03:57:06 [8]
27 June 2010 4 Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs  United States Lubbock 04:00:43 Behind winner, Chris Lieto[9]
18 July 2010 3 Ironman 70.3 Racine  United States Racine 04:00:36
12 June 2011 1 Eagleman Ironman 70.3  United States Cambridge (Maryland) 03:54:39
10 June 2012 3 Eagleman Ironman 70.3  United States Cambridge (Maryland) 03:48:52
28 October 2012 2 Ironman 70.3 Austin  United States Austin 03:52:07
5 May 2014 9 USA Middle Distance Triathlon National Championships  United States St. George 04:03:39 State championships at middle distance in Ironman 70.3 St. George
3 December 2017 3 Ironman 70.3 Cartagena  Colombia Cartagena 03:55:14
11 May 2019 1 Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast  United States Panama City Beach 03:54:19
20 June 2021 12 Ironman 70.3 Des Moines  United States Des Moines, IA 2:49:36 Bike course shortened due to weather delays
Triathlon Long distance
Date/Year Position Competition Location Time Remarks
26 August 2007 3 Ironman Louisville  United States Louisville Third in Kentucky – behind the two Australians, Chris McDonald and Craig McKenzie
2007 30 Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii 09:03:05
13 April 2008 2 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:34:36 17 seconds behind the winner, the Hungarian, József Major[10]
2008 251 Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii 09:53:43
2009 2 Ironman Coeur d’Alene  United States Idaho 08:42:03 [11]
2009 36 Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii 09:06:20
2009 2 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:20:22 Second behind fellow countryman, Jordan Rapp
2010 39 Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii 08:54:00
7 May 2011 3 Ironman St. George  United States St. George 08:40:20
24 July 2011 1 Ironman USA  United States Lake Placid 08:25:15
8 October 2011 DNF Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii [12]
11 August 2012 6 Ironman New York  United States New York City 08:33:01
18 November 2012 3 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:07:39
23 June 2013 3 Ironman Coeur d’Alene  United States Idaho 08:32:09
12 October 2013 22 Ironman Hawaii  United States Hawaii 08:43:56 [13]
17 August 2014 1 Ironman Mont-Tremblant  Canada Québec 08:16:17
29 March 2015 18 Ironman South Africa  South Africa Port Elizabeth 09:06:24
27 September 2015 9 Ironman Chattanooga  United States Chattanooga 08:21:48
15 November 2015 3 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:04:17
20 November 2016 3 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:02:30 Ironman personal best
10 September 2017 2 Ironman Wisconsin  United States Madison 08:28:17
18 November 2018 3 Ironman Arizona  United States Tempe 08:09:53

(DNF – Did Not Finish)

References

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  1. ^ Bergeson, Lance. "Ironman 70.3 Des Moines: Lawrence, West capture inaugural championships". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  2. ^ Richardson, Trey (3 February 2016). "World's Fastest Bike? Dimond Bikes new Superfork makes a fast tri bike even faster". bikerumor.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Dimond Bikes Launches new Marquise Triathlon and TT model". Trizone. 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  4. ^ "About". Dimond Bikes. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  5. ^ https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2014/12/01/business-owner-professional-triathlete-tj/24380219007/
  6. ^ https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2014/12/01/business-owner-professional-triathlete-tj/24380219007/
  7. ^ "Ironman 70.3 Florida: Sieg für O´Donnell, Triple für Cave". Triathlon auf tri2b.com | das Tri-Portal für Einsteiger bis zum Profi (in German). 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  8. ^ Bozzone and McGlone win Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas
  9. ^ "Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs: Chris Lieto wieder erfolgreich". Triathlon auf tri2b.com | das Tri-Portal für Einsteiger bis zum Profi (in German). 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  10. ^ Krabel, Herbert (2008-04-14). "Hungarians sweep IM Arizona". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  11. ^ Kai Baumgartner (2009-06-21). "Francisco Pontano gewinnt Ironman Coeur D'Alene, Maximilian Longree Dritter". 3athlon.de. Archived from the original on 2009-06-25.
  12. ^ Results Ironman World Championship 2011, retrieved 28 June 2014
  13. ^ Results Ironman World Championship 2013, retrieved 28 June 2014
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