Patrick Lange sets course record to win 3rd Ironman World Championship in Kona

Patrick Lange of Germany had so much energy after winning the grueling 140.6-mile Ironman World Championship on Saturday that he jumped up and down with joy, picked up a supporter, laid a big smooch on a woman, and danced to the beat of the Tahitian drummers.

And his exuberant celebration with the fans lasted for more than 7 minutes before Magnus Ditlev of Denmark made it the 600 yards past a cheering throng of people along Aliʻi Drive in Kailua-Kona to finish in second place.

American Rudy von Berg came in third for the race that began at 6:25 a.m. with a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.

At the finish line, Lange said during the race he thought about his mother who had died of cancer in 2020 and dedicated the win to her.

In the post-race press conference, he elaborated that about 5 kilometers into the run, he started getting goosebumps all over his body despite it being really hot.

“That was the moment when I definitely felt her,” he said. “When I was with her in hospice, when I had my last talk to her, she said: ‘I really wish you could be on that top step. I really want you to kick butt one more time. And I’m really proud I did this for her.”

The $125,000 first place prize also was nice.

But after the bike, it looked like the race would belong to defending champion Sam Laidlow of France. He broke his own bike course record to start the run with a nearly 6 minute lead over the field, including 9 minutes and 6 seconds over Lange.

The 25-year-old Laidlow was feeling so good off the bike that as he ran past King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort he punched his fists into the air to the roar of the crowd.

But the run temperature was in the mid 80s, with energy-sapping high humidity and searing sun. Thatʻs when the 38-year-old Lange, who became the second oldest winner of the championship, showed his younger competitors how it is done.

He quickly picked off the 12 athletes ahead of him after the bike, one by one. The last was Laidlow, who began showing signs of distress around the 10-mile mark, including walking through an aid station.

At about mile 11 of the run, and 6:02:38 into the race, Lange passed Laidlow like he was a pylon, patted him on the back for encouragement, and was off in a blue streak.

“I definitely tapped him on the back. I mean he’s a champion so he earned my respect,” Lange said. “I just said to him to fight through the pain because he looked in pain to me. So I tried to motivate him a little bit.”

Was that the moment Lange knew he had the race?

“No, no, no,” he said. “You cannot be sure that you have the race in the pocket until you cross the banyan tree,” which is at the finish line.”

Ditlev, who won $65,000 for second, and von Berg, who took home $45,000 for third, both tried to catch Lange. But the German never faltered en route to a course record 7 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds. The time smashed by five minutes the previous best mark set by Gustav Iden of Norway in 2022.

When Lange won his other two World Championships, in 2017 and 2018, he also set course records each time. And when he did so in 2018, he became the first to break the 8-hour barrier in Kona.

On Thursday, when pro triathlete Matt Hanson was asked how many pros would break 8 hours on Saturday, he said 15 half jokingly, justifying the estimate as the number of paychecks awarded for the race.

But Hanson, who finished the race in 10th place, was wrong. An incredible 16 racers finished under 8 hours, with all but Lange wobbling and having trouble standing upright after crossing the finish line on Aliʻi Drive.

This was the first all men’s Ironman World Championship on the Big Island. Beginning in 2023, in order to accommodate the growing number of participants, an alternating site format began. The men competed last year in Nice, France, where Laidlow pulled out the title win in his home country.

He really was hoping to win at Kona, the iconic spot for the race. But as was the case in 2022, Laidlow could not hold on for the victory after finishing first after the bike. That year Iden caught him during his record-breaking victory.

After Lange past Laidlow, who continued to struggle, it left the battle for the other two podium spots. Leon Chevalier of France had moved into second place, but he also began to struggle and walked through an aid station around the 17-mile mark.

That’s when Ditlev, who looked exhausted after finishing the bike, ran past the walking Chevalier into second place. Soon after that, von Berg made his move into third.

Throughout the run, most of the triathletes tried to keep cool by pouring gallons of water on their heads. Ditlev also grabbed ice, but one time it came out as a big chunk that broadcasters joked was an iceberg.

“I really wanted to carry it with me, but I just didn’t know where to put it, so I ran with it for maybe 500 meters just trying to crack it,” he said. “I tried to put it down my neck, but it was simply too big, so I just threw it to the ground.”

Lange’s day, like many of the other pro swimmers, began with with jelly fish stings. Lange asked photographers if they had an vinegar.

“I was desperately trying to problem solve,” he said. “Right now, I’m still in pain from the jellyfish stings. I have it on both of my arms and my face and my feet and it’s really hurting.”

Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands, who finished fifth, said he also got stung at the start “and it was really, really painful.”

“My heart was pumping like crazy, and I thought I’m going to maybe die or something. I thought I might be allergic or something. But when the gun goes (to start the race), I felt it, but it was okay.”

It must have been, because Koolhaas was the first out of the water at 47 minutes and 2 seconds, just ahead of Laidlow. Lange, who said he changed swim coaches this year and has worked hard on that aspect of his race, finished the swim in fourth.

Lange’s bike leg was 4:06:22, for an average pace of 27.39 miles per hour, and then he posted a 2:37:34 marathon, for an average pace of 6:16 per mile. His run was just shy of the course record of 2:36:15 set by Iden in 2022.

Lange becomes the second athlete from Germany to win three world championships, joining Jan Frodeno.

Back in the pack, Laidlow didn’t give up, finishing in 18th place in 8:02:01, which for decades of the race would have been a winning time.

Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, the 2021 Ironman World Champion, also was a race favorite. But he had digestive issues while on the bike, throwing up at least eight times, and finished in 8:29:58 for 35th place.

The only person older than Lange to win the World Championship is Australian Craig Alexander. In 2011, he won the last of his three titles at an older 38.

And another added bonus for Lange. He moved into first place in the Ironman’s inaugural Pro Series. With his World Championship victory, he earned 6,000 points for a total of 18,623. He is just ahead of Hanson, who has 17,853.

The top ranked male at the end of the series wins a $200,000 bonus.

Bike finish update: Defending champion Sam Laidlow of France pumped his fist in the air as he left the second transition in front of the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel to start the final run leg in first place on Saturday in the VinFast Ironman World Championship.

The crowd roared. Laidlow broke his own Kona bike course record with a time of 3 hours, 57 minutes, 22 seconds, beating the previous best time of 4:04:36 he cycled in 2022.

Laidlow cycled the 112-mile bike course averaging 28.43 miles per hour, which included a 6-mile climb into a headwind to Hawi.

Six other pros on Saturday also finished the bike route faster than the previous record.

But this time, Laidlow is hoping for a better overall outcome. In 2022, Gustav Iden of Norway caught him on the run en route to a run course record 2:36:15 in the marathon. Iden won the title in record setting time of 7:40:24.

Laidlow said he has emphasized his running during his training the past two months.

While Laidlow looked cool as a cucumber coming off the bike, the Ironman has proven over the 40 plus years that anything can happen during the run.

Two-time World Champion Patrick Lange of Germany is a better runner than Laidlow, starting the marathon in 13th place, 9 minutes and 6 seconds behind Laidlow.

Bike halfway update: At the turnaround point at Hawi of the 112-mile bike leg of the VinFast Ironman World Championship, defending champ Sam Laidlow of France was in control of the 140.6-mile triathlon.

After coming second out of the swim, Laidlow started the bike course blazing fast and by mile 2 he had built a 54-second lead.

He kept up the pressure on Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway and by the 31-mile mark he had built a nearly 2-minute lead with an incredible average pace of 30.3 miles per hour before the climb to Hawi.

Another favorite, Magnus Ditlev of Denmark, made his move out of the pack to pull into second place, with 2021 World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway right behind him. At the 41-mile mark they were still almost 2 minutes behind Laidlow.

But Blummenfelt had difficulty with his nutrition, and threw up about eight times. He fell back to a big chase group of 19 athletes led by Americans Matt Marquardt and Rudy von Berg.

After the 6-mile climb into Hawi, with a headwind, Laidlow had built a 5-minute plus lead over the chase group.

The riders will have a nice downhill with a tailwind out of Hawi.

Swim update: Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands was the first out of Kailua Bay after a 2.4-mile swim, the first leg of the VinFast Ironman World Championship, which began at 6:25 a.m. Saturday in Kona on the Big Island.

With a time of 47 minutes, 2 seconds, the 28-year-old Koolhaas just barely beat defending champion Sam Laidlow of France by four seconds.

Conditions were fairly good with rolling waves and a water temperature of 80 degrees.

But the World Championship swim record remains with Jan Sibbersen of Germany, who set it in 2018 with a time of 46 minutes, 29 seconds.

Third out of the water was Antonio Benito Lopez, who finished in 47:08.

But most telling was the fourth-place person out of the water: two-time Ironman World Champion Patrick Lange of Germany, just three seconds behind Laidlow.

Other race favorites: 2021 Ironman World Champsion Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway, was 14th in the swim, 17 seconds behind Laidlow. And Magnus Ditlev of Denmark found himself down 1 minute and 12 seconds after the swim, in which he came out of the water in 20th.

Original story: As the sun rises over Kailua-Kona this morning, more than 50 pro triathletes and about 2,400 amateurs from 85 countries will dive into Kailua Bay for the start of the VinFast Ironman World Championship.

The pros start at 6:25 a.m., with various age groups to follow.

On Friday, downtown Kona was buzzing with activity in preparation for the big day. Triathletes took their bikes to the transition area on the Kailua Pier, with some getting last-minute tuneups. Workers were scurrying to finish a variety of tasks, including putting up scaffolding and banners at the iconic finish line, installing the sound system, and placing metal barriers to hold back the crowds. Some people were getting in a last minute run.

Two local residents set up a makeshift business selling chalk to race supporters who wrote messages on the final 100 yards of Aliʻi Drive leading to the finish line. The messages in many languages likely will be well smudged by the time the last pair of sore feet runs on this final stretch 17 hours after starting.

Unless conditions are exceedingly tough, the winner will have crossed the finish line in less than 8 hours, a time unheard of more than 40 years ago when the first Ironman was held in 1978 on Oʻahu.

Many of the pros and triathlon experts say this could be one of the closest and fastest races, with one of the championship’s best fields. Leading the way is defending champion Sam Laidlow of France, but other favorites include two-time World Champion Patrick Lange of Germany, Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt (the 2021 World Champion) and Denmark’s hungry-for-a-Kona victory Magnus Ditlev.

Gustav Iden, who won in Kona in record fashion in 2022, said he has not been able to do the type of training required to win the title. But some fellow athletes think he might be sandbagging.

Other contenders include three Americans: up-and-coming Matt Marquardt and Trevor Foley and Rudy von Berg, who ended 2023 with a record crushing 7:34:41 in the Florida Ironman.

Saturday marks the return to Kona for the men’s championship race, which last year was held in Nice, France. In 2023, the men and women began alternating their championship sites because the duo event was outgrowing the capacity of the small community of Kona.

As always, there are inspiring stories about people who have overcome challenges to tackle the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run. They include participants who have terminal cancer, PTSD, Cerebral Palsy and no legs.

There are also 16 Big Island triathletes competing in the race.

For information about road closures, how to track Ironman athletes live and other things you need to know about race day, click here.

Live race day coverage will be broadcast for free across multiple platforms for global viewers including proseries.ironman.com, DAZN and YouTube, as well as Outside TV in the United States and Canada, L’Équipe in France and ZDF in Germany. 

Editorʻs Note: This story will be updated throughout race day.