September 22, 2024 For the first time since 2013, the IRONMAN World Championship Women’s Race did not include either Daniela Ryf or Anne Haug on the podium. Ryf retired from the sport earlier this season. Haug, who had been on every World Championship podium since 2018, had a mechanical shortly after coming out of T1 today. That, unfortunately, ended her day early. Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay was forced to pull out of the race on Saturday with a grade 1c muscle strain. With some big names taken out of the race, opportunity came knocking for the other top contenders. Germany’s Laura Philipp and Great Britain’s Kat Matthews took control of the race on the bike. They created a gap on the rest of the field and took turns at the front. They changed positions multiple times in the last few kilometers and came into T2 together. Matthews set a furious pace through transition, with Philipp closely following. Matthews got onto the run course first and gapped Philipp by about 100m. Both women set off at a furious pace, that was not going to be sustainable but would eventually separate the two.
Philipp pulled even with Matthews and the two would run stride for stride until the 7 mile mark. At that point, Philipp moved in front and would stay there until the finish line. Philipp is one of the best triathletes on the planet but wins at the biggest races in our sport have eluded her until today. Her best […]
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