Huge activity in Hawaii: Almost twice as many triathletes as usual start at the Ironman. A look at favorites and CVs.
For the first time in World Championship history there will be two Ironman races. On Thursday (October 6th, 2022) the professional women will start with German podium and title chances, on Saturday (October 8th, 2022) the professional men will follow. The fact that there is no longer a joint race is due to the corona pandemic. Because of her, the World Cup in Hawaii had to be canceled twice recently.
The 2021 title was awarded at a catch-up event in May this year in St. George, Utah. However, many age group starters, who always make up the bulk of the participants in Hawaii, saved their hard-fought Hawaii starting places at another Ironman. The result: instead of the usual 2,500 women and men, more than 5,000 can compete this time.
The chances of another German victory
At the most recent Hawaii edition in 2019, Anne Haug and Jan Frodeno won a German double. For Haug (39) it was the first World Cup triumph, she was also the first German woman to be crowned winner.
Frodeno (41) won for the third time and continued the series of German Hawaii successes begun by Sebastian Kienle in 2014. Kienle will also be there again, in contrast to Frodeno, who had to cancel his start due to injury. Kienle (38) only estimates his chances of winning at five percent.
Debutant as a favorite
Patrick Lange (36) is the third champion of the black, red and gold era. He injured his shoulder in a wheel fall in February and had to withdraw from the catch-up World Championships in St. George. A corona infection robbed him of a lot of training time in July.
Everyone, including the other German participants, will have to compete with one thing in particular: Utah winner, Olympic champion, short-distance world champion and super dominator Kristian Blummenfelt (28). However, it will be the Hawaii debut for the Norwegian.
A lot of competition for Anne Haug
In addition to Haug, Laura Philipp (35) is one of the favorites for women. She is the fastest woman over the Ironman distance and also the halfway distance. And she wants to compensate for missing the World Cup in May due to a corona infection.
However, as with men, the competition among women is enormous. Among the favorites are Swiss Daniela Ryf (35), winner of Utah and five-time Ironman World Champion, and Briton Lucy Charles-Barclay (29), injured in May and three-time runner-up in Hawaii.
Exciting life stories in the field
The range in the field is enormous, starting with age. Canadian Rachel Welsford is the youngest at 19, Warren Hill is the oldest at 82. One of the longest is likely to be the more than two-meter-tall former Belgian basketball pro Sebastien Bellin, who suffered serious leg injuries in the attacks in Brussels in 2016.
Also there are the former Super Bowl winner and NFL professional Dallas Clark and again the “Tagesschau” spokesman Thorsten Schröder after successful qualification at the European Championships in Frankfurt/Main this year.
Or Chris Nikic, who was the first triathlete with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman and now wants to make his Hawaii debut. His motto: get one percent better every day. Or the Brit Sam Holness, 29 years old and autistic, nicknamed “Super Sam”.