(BIVN) – For the first time since 2019, the IRONMAN men’s and women’s world champions were crowned on the same day in Kona.
Vincent Luis, on his IRONMAN World Championship debut, became the first Frenchman to win in Kona. In only his third IRONMAN triathlon, Luis finished the race in 7 hours, 47 minutes, and 27 seconds.
“That was a crazy day out there,” said Luis, who said 2026 will be the final year of his career. “I just felt really good the last three months of preparation and I just thought this is the last time I have to commit this hard for a race. I said if I win, I will maybe not continue but I went through some dark places in the last three, four kilometres but one hundred percent worth it.”
“I have a few nights out to decide what to do with my life now,” Luis added. “I put my whole life to have an Olympic medal and I would say there are two things in the world of triathlon, an Olympic gold and a Kona title, and I have one of them – the rest are good for bookshelves.”
Gustav Iden (NOR) finished as runner-up for the second year in a row after 7 hours, 49 minutes, and 3 seconds.
“I could see Vince in front of me and I was thinking this is my day, but it was so brutal in the end and I was really happy to make it to the finish line in second,” said Iden. “This race I’m wearing a special suit to honor my mother who died of cancer three years ago and I’m not going to make this a story about myself, we all do sports for our own reason, but it was just so emotional today.”
Matthew Marquardt (USA) finished in third place after 7 hours, 49 minutes, and 59 seconds.
“I’m over the moon, the dream was to podium here in Kona and we did it, so I couldn’t be happier,” said Marquardt. “Some things didn’t go my way, losing three minutes, but it’s a long day and I told myself when it happened, I wasn’t going to give up and that I was going to give myself a shot.”
Taylor Knibb of the United States finished first among the women, passing passed defending IRONMAN World Champion Solveig Løvseth (NOR) in the final two kilometers of the race and taking the lead in dramatic fashion. Knibb earned her IRONMAN World Championship title in 8 hours, 36 minutes, and 29 seconds.
“Last year played a huge part because when I was entering the Energy Lab, I made a big decision and it was just, take care of yourself, because it was getting really hard,” said Knibb. “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.”
Defending champion Løvseth, who had collapsed on the side of the road after briefly passing Knibb, got back to her feet and managed to walk the final two kilometers to the finish line in eighth place.
Laura Philipp (DEU) finished second, about three minutes behind Knibb.
Julie Derron (CHE) took third place in 8 hours, 46 minutes, and 25 seconds.
Over 2,500 athletes from 85 countries and territories took part in this year’s race, which entailed a 2.3-mile swim (3.8km) in Kailua Bay, a 112-mile bike ride (180km) on Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway, and a 26-mile marathon run (42.2 km) finishing on Aliʻi Drive in Kailua Village.
