Leaving Tuesday at 04:00 (local time), Chorgnon first lined up 152 lengths (i.e. 3.8 km in 1 h 13 min) in the swimming pool of a hotel requisitioned for the occasion and whose water temperature was around the 32 degrees.

Frenchman Ludovic Chorgnon goes the lengths over 3.8 km during the Ironman Triathlon, August 10, 2015 in Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher) CHARLY TRIBALLEAU AFP / Archives

After a ten-minute break, he got on his bike for a 180 km course (and 2,350 m of elevation gain) over 2 loops, i.e. 11 h 15 min to pedal, passing in front of the lowest point in the United States, and the hottest, Bad Water, with a recorded peak temperature of 56 degrees.

Finally, he ran a marathon (42 km) in 12 hours and 50 minutes (700 m of elevation gain).

The unprecedented performance was recorded for Guinness World Records by the French judge officiating at the International Triathlon Federation, Thomas Mantelli, who confirmed to AFP the validation of the challenge.

During this extreme challenge, the lowest temperature was 34.5, Tuesday at 4:00 am.

From 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the temperature never went below 50 degrees.

Chorgnon, who had trained in a sauna at his place of residence in Reunion, suffered from dehydration and had to take "a break to bring down the physiological parameters because even after dark, the temperature remained at 48 degrees", said the umpire.

Ludovic Chorgnon trains in a sauna on June 17, 2022 in Reunion, to prepare for the extreme heat that awaits him as he prepares to attempt an ultra-triathlon in Death Valley in the States States Richard BOUHET AFP/Archives

The triathlete was already known to the general public for his record of 41 Ironman in 41 days in 2015.

Chorgnon had already completed a race in Death Valley in 2007, where he had experienced the greatest fear in his life as he had suffered so much, he told AFP.

He had then covered the 217 km in 44 hours.

This time, he chained 225 km of effort in some 27 hours.

The Frenchman achieved this feat five months after completing the coldest ultra triathlon, 20 hours of effort swimming in almost frozen water, pedaling on snowy slopes and then running a marathon in the dark night. , in Finland.

Frenchman Ludovic Chorgnon ends his marathon in the middle of the night, during the Ironman Triathlon, on February 26, 2022 in Rovaniemi, in the north of Finland ANAIS CHORGNON ANAIS CHORGNON/AFP/Archives

In August 2020, he validated the ultra triathlon with the most elevation gain (12,000 m of elevation gain).

© 2022 AFP