The hep Sports Team has a new addition with Norwegian elite triathlete Gustav Iden, a two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, on board with the green energy firm’s triathlon team.
Alongside Imogen Simmonds and Daniel Bækkegård, Iden is the third international elite athlete to join the German triathlon team, which also includes the likes of Sebastian Kienle.
Ronnie Schildknecht, hep Sports Team Manager, said “hep is a German company in the field of photovoltaics, but one that is rapidly growing internationally. Gustav is very hardworking and down to earth. That fits together perfectly. I am immensely pleased to welcome Gustav to the team.”
25-year-old Gustav Iden from Bergen, Norway, is one of triathlon hottest talents. Despite a young age, he already has two world championship titles and one Olympic participation under his belt.
In 2019 he won the IRONMAN 70.3 world title for the first time in Nice. He then successfully defended the title last year in St George, Utah, USA.
Iden’s next goal is the full distance, and he’s on the hunt for the title ‘IRONMAN World Champion’.
Commenting on the new team tie-up, Iden said “I am very happy to be part of hep. The mentality of the people who work there and the work they do perfectly match my beliefs.
“As a passionate nature lover, I am convinced that renewable energies are indispensable. As a global expert in solar energy, hep helps us all to go in the right direction – ‘because there is no planet b’.”
In the hep Sports Team the Norwegian athlete will follow in the footsteps of his Sebastian Kienle. According to hep, Kienle, himself a former IRONMAN World Champion, will end his professional sports career at the end of next year.
The declared goal for the hep Sports Team this year is to be at the forefront of two IRONMAN World Championships. This unique opportunity comes as the 2021 IRONMAN World Championship has been postponed to May 7, 2022 due to the pandemic. The venue will be St George in Utah.
The 2022 IRONMAN World Championship returns to Kona in its usual October slot, with a two-day event format on October 6 and 8, 2022.
With Sebastian Kienle, Daniel Bækkegård, Gustav Iden, Imogen Simmonds and Laura Philipp, five hep Sports team athletes have qualified for the 2021 championship. The qualification phase for the 2022 championship in Hawaii in October is still under way.
Renewable energy specialist hep positions itself as ‘a partner for everything related to solar energy’. Since 2008, the company has developed, built, operated and financed solar parks worldwide.
The large-scale photovoltaic systems the company has developed have around a 1,310 megawatt peak capacity. The company operates 18 of its own solar projects via locations in Germany, Japan and the USA.
