(BIVN) – Solveig Løvseth of Norway was crowned the 2025 IRONMAN World Champion on Saturday, finishing the iconic Kona triathlon in 8 hours, 28 minutes, and 27 seconds. 

Great Britain’s Kat Matthews took second place with a time of 8:29:02. The time gap between Løvseth’s first place finish and Matthews’ second place was 35 seconds, making it the third closest finish in IRONMAN World Champ history. 

Matthews set a new Kona Run Course Best in 2 hours, 47 minutes, and 23 seconds – a full minute faster that previous record holder, Anne Haug. It was her third 2nd-place finish at an IRONMAN World Championship event. 

Defending champion Laura Philipp of Germany finishing in third with a time of 8:37:28. 

(L-R) Laura Philipp #1 of Germany, Solveig Lovseth #16 of Norway and Kat Matthews #2 of the United Kingdom pose for a photograph after the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship Women’s Race on October 11, 2025 in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for IRONMAN)

The IRONMAN media team noted pre-race favorites Taylor Knibb (USA) and Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) fell short, retiring in the latter stages of the marathon. 

“It has been hard to wrap my head around it,” said Løvseth, who takes home $125,000 in winner’s prize money and 6,000 points in the IRONMAN Pro Series. “I didn’t have the best swim but felt like I kept my calm. Out of the bike I felt really good and couldn’t really believe it when I started the run. But the run was really hard from the start, I genuinely didn’t know if I was going to be able to get to the finish line.” 

An aerial view of athletes competing in the bike portion during the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship Women’s Race on October 11, 2025 in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for IRONMAN)

“I started to feel a bit better about halfway, which is unbelievable, because I really didn’t expect that,” Løvseth said. “I was trying to keep my calm the whole way. I feel really sorry for both Taylor [Knibb] and Lucy [Charles-Barclay]. It was not the way I wanted to pass them. For the first time, I realized I can win this if everything goes right. The thought started to pop in my head and then when I passed Taylor I realized now that I had a chance, I just needed to not blow up.”

Hannah Berry (NZL) finished 4th with a total time of 8:46:25, and Lisa Perterer (AUT) took 5th place in 8:48:08.

By the evening, IRONMAN had activated a video livestream showing the finish line on Aliʻi Drive.