Lanzarote has paid official tribute to the man behind the island’s most famous sporting event.
Kenneth Gasque, who has lived on Lanzarote since 1983, catapulted it to fame a decade later thanks to his brainwave to have it host to what is widely considered one of Europe’s toughest endurance races.
Denmark-born Gasque, who was sporting director at the famous La Santa Sport on Lanzarote, hit on the idea when he spotted a tourist wearing an ‘Ironman Hawaii’ t-shirt and felt that the rugged volcanic landscapes of the island were more than a match for those of the competition’s venue in Kona (Hawaii). After competing himself in the event, the first Dane ever to do so, he set his sights on creating a similar triathlon in his adopted island.
On 30 May 1992, coinciding with Canary Islands Day, 148 athletes dove into the Atlantic Ocean for the inaugural Ironman Lanzarote. Gasque designed the course based on his own training routes, including a unique one-lap bike course with 2,389 metres of elevation gain. The rest is history and Ironman Lanzarote has grown from strength to strength since that first year to become one of Europe’s oldest and most renowned triathlons, a true test of endurance due to its punishing winds, tough terrain and at times brutally hot weather.
To mark his contribution to showcasing the island as a premier sporting destination and his tireless fundraising to enable disabled children to take part in sports, the local authorities commissioned sculptor Cintia Machín to make a statue of Gasque. The statue, which depicts him in his characteristic bow tie preparing to hand over a medal to a competitor, as he has done on countless occasions down the years, was officially unveiled on the seafront in Puerto del Carmen at a ceremony attended by the Dane himself and a host of dignitaries and well-wishers.
Paying tribute to the creator of Ironman Lanzarote, Tías mayor José Juan Cruz praised Gasque for ‘his vision in seeing in Puerto del Carmen not just a privileged setting but a community willing to dream big. Kenneth is without doubt part of our history’.
Photo: Whatsapp Kenneth Gasque
