Taylor Knibb wins Ironman world title in Kona after Solveig Løvseth collapses late
American triathlete Taylor Knibb won the Ironman World Championship in Kona on Sunday (AEST), overtaking Norway’s Solveig Løvseth in the closing stages to claim her first Hawaiian title.
The race turned dramatically in the final mile when Løvseth, the defending champion, held a lead of more than a minute after taking the lead from Knibb inside the final 10km of the marathon. Løvseth then developed a sudden case of the wobbles and collapsed; Knibb passed her about a kilometre from the finish and the Norwegian eventually recovered to place eighth. The finish recalled the 1995 race when Paula Newby-Fraser collapsed inside 500m and was passed by Karen Smyers, and Smyers helped hold the winner’s tape for Knibb.
Knibb, who had been forced to withdraw from the race last year with only a couple of kilometres remaining while leading, kept her composure when Løvseth returned to the front. “Last year played a huge part because ... I made a big decision and it was just, ‘take care of yourself’, because it was getting really hard,” Knibb said. “Then when Solveig came back, I thought I can’t fight because if I fight, I’m going to lose, so I had to learn from last year to just get to the finish line, get to the finish line, get to the finish line.”
Knibb completed the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run event in eight hours, 36 minutes and 29 seconds to take the title. Germany’s Laura Philipp finished three minutes behind in second place. Løvseth was able to walk to the finish, smiling and high-fiving fans.
Grace Thek was the best-placed Australian, rallying in the marathon to finish 10th on her debut at Kona, while Nick Thompson finished 11th among the professional men. Essendon’s David Zaharakis joined a select group of former AFL players by finishing in Hawaii as an age-group competitor. The race was marked by particularly high humidity and several contenders either did not finish or hit the wall.
In the men’s race, Vincent Luis of France won on his Kona debut aged 37, recording victory in 7hr 47min 27sec. It was just his third Ironman-distance race after Luis won Olympic bronze at Tokyo in the mixed team relay and claimed the 2019 and 2020 world championship series titles. Gustav Iden, the 2022 winner, finished runner-up in 7:49:03.
Luis had indicated before his Kona debut that he would retire afterwards but said he will now reconsider. “I said if I win, I will maybe not continue, but I went through some dark places in the last 3-4km – but 100% worth it,” Luis said. “Let’s see, I have a few nights out to decide what to do with my life now.”