Lionel sanders bio

Canadian triathlete

Lionel James Sanders (born February 22, 1988) is a Canadian professional triathlete winner of the 2017 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships. In 2017 and 2021, he also placed second at the Ironman World Championship. In 2014 he placed fourth in the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship held in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Sanders's first professional race was in September 2013 at the Muskoka Ironman 70.3, where he took 1st place over Andreas Raelert.

Career

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Sanders attended the University of Windsor, and later transferred to McMaster University in Hamilton where he ran for the cross-country running team.

In 2013 Sanders began to race local Ontario Multisport Canada triathlons. Sanders officially began his professional triathlete career in September when he continued his win streak by taking first place in 70.3 Muskoka. The following year Sanders went on to have a successful 2014 Ironman 70.3 season with notable wins at the Ironman 70.3 races in Muncie, Racine and Steelhead. After his 4th-place finish at the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championships Sanders finished his first Ironman distance race as a professional at Ironman Florida on November 1, 2014; an event he won. In that race, the swim was cancelled due to poor conditions.

Sanders had a string of 70.3 victories in 2015, combined with some learning experiences at the Ironman distance. At Ironman Texas Sanders struggled under the oppressive heat & humid conditions, fading on the run and taking a fourth. At Ironman Mont Tremblant Sanders had a disappointing performance, finishing fifth. This was Sanders's first time competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii where he finished 14th. Sanders went on to Ironman Arizona finishing with a time under 8 hours to take his first official full distance victor

Mr ‘No Limits’ Lionel Sanders is one of the most well-known, and respected, triathletes on the long-distance circuit. 

Born in Windsor, Onatrio, Canada in February 1988, Sanders is one of the most social-media savvy athletes in the sport running a highly popular YouTube channel alongside his sporting exploits.

The 2017 ITU Long Distance World Champion and IRONMAN World Championship silver medalist, Lionel has a ‘never give up’ mentality and has overcome a number of obstacles in his career to date to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

Prior to his professional career, Sanders battled addiction – a topic he has openly talked about during his time on the long-distance circuit:

“I want to prove to anyone who has ever battled addiction that not only can you beat it, but you can turn yourself into something great in the process,” he once stated in an in-depth interview with the Hamilton Spectator.

In fact, it was those much-publicised troubles which spurred Lionel to sign up for his first IRONMAN at Louisville in 2010, where he finished in a time of 10:14:31. That performance piqued the interest of Canadian coach Barrie Shepley, who worked with Sanders in the early stages of his career.

Since then, Lionel has gone from strength to strength in becoming a regular podium presence over both the middle distance and the full distance.

Career record and results

Lionel began his professional career at the age of 25 in late 2013 and instantly took to the middle distance, winning IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka on his pro debut. Finishing more than six minutes clear of Germany’s Andreas Raelert, a multiple IRONMAN World Championship podium finisher, certainly gained some headlines.

Sanders continued that form into 2014 with 70.3 wins at Muncie, Racine and Steelhead before finishing in fourth place at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in behind Javier Gomez, Jan Frodeno and Tim Don. Of particular note, Sanders was the slowest swimmer that day – and

My name is Lionel Sanders. I grew up in Harrow Ontario Canada. I got into sports when I was in grade 4. The two I participated in most avidly were running and basketball. I continued to run throughout high school with my best performances being 10 at the Ontario Provincial Championship in Cross Country (Grade 9) and 10 at provincials in the steeple-chase (Grade 11).

Towards the end of high school I got sidetracked and tried to find myself in alcohol and drugs. I went down that path for a number of years, which eventually lead me to drop out of university. Over the next couple of years I went deep inside of myself, becoming severely social phobic, depressed and paranoid. I was also beginning to have auditory and visual hallucinations. After hitting what I perceived to be rock bottom on several occasions I finally saw the light. On November 5 2009, after a several year hiatus from sports, I started running again.

After a month of running I still did not feel great. Out of nowhere, the idea to do an Ironman triathlon popped into my head. I signed up for Ironman Louisville, and over the next 10 months I devoted myself to training for that race. On August 29 2010 I became an Ironman! During that race I was lapped on the two loop run course by the eventual winner Paul Ambrose. I thought he looked so cool, and was amazed that someone could still be running that fast, that late into a long distance event. I believe it was at that moment that the seed to become a professional triathlete was planted. I had a lot of work cut out for me though as Paul had beat me in that race by close to 2 hours.

Over the next three years I focused my energy on improving my swimming, biking and running. I reconnected with fellow Harrow native Barrie Shepley around this time, and over the next several years he would be instrumental in getting me the resources, equipment, facilities and training partners required to reach my full potential.

On September 8 2013