Known for his ‘No Limits’ mantra and his outspoken presence, Lionel Sanders is one of the most well-known triathletes on the long-distance circuit.

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in February 1988, Sanders was one of the first professional triathletes to launch a YouTube channel taking fans behind the scenes of his day to day training. Known for his honesty, straight-talking and his ever-changing self-coached approach, Sanders has become a big fan favourite.

Prior to his professional career, Sanders battled addiction – a topic he has openly talked about during his time on the long-distance circuit:

“I want to prove to anyone who has ever battled addiction that not only can you beat it, but you can turn yourself into something great in the process,” he once stated in an in-depth interview with the Hamilton Spectator. 

In fact, it was those much-publicised troubles which spurred Lionel to sign up for his first IRONMAN at Louisville in 2010, where he finished in a time of 10:14:31. That performance piqued the interest of Canadian coach Barrie Shepley, who worked with Sanders in the early stages of his career. 

Career record and results 

Lionel began his professional career at the age of 25 in late 2013 and instantly took to the middle distance, winning IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka on his pro debut. Finishing more than six minutes clear of Germany’s Andreas Raelert, a multiple IRONMAN World Championship podium finisher, certainly gained some headlines.

Sanders continued that form into 2014 with 70.3 wins at Muncie, Racine and Steelhead before finishing in fourth place at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in behind Javier Gomez, Jan Frodeno and Tim Don. Of particular note, Sanders was the slowest swimmer that day – and the final gap to winner Gomez was exactly the same as his swim deficit.

Sanders would go on to win on his full-distance debut later in 2014 with a victory at IRONMAN Florida – although he did benefit from the cancellation of the swim, his least favoured discipline. 

2015 brought further success on the IRONMAN circuit in the shape of wins at 70.3 Texas, 70.3 Mont Tremblant, 70.3 Muskoka. 70.3 Racine and over the full distance in Arizona. He also finished 14th on his IRONMAN World Championship debut in Kona, Hawaii. 

Five successive 70.3 victories in early 2016 – Panama, California, Texas, St George and Mont Tremblant – were followed by second-place finishes at Racine and Wiesbaden in Germany. Ninth place at the 70.3 World Championship was followed by 29th in Kona – this despite shaving four minutes off his 2015 time.

Lionel ended 2016 with another IRONMAN Arizona triumph, a race he saw as redemption after the frustration of that result on the ‘Big Island’. 

His success continued in 2017 with five further wins over the half-distance – Pucon, Buenos Aires, California, Challenge Samorin and Mont Tremblant – before his ITU Long Distance world title and Kona silver medal. He ended the season, in what was becoming a bit of a tradition, by winning IRONMAN Arizona for the third consecutive year. Seven wins and two second-place finishes from nine races was quite the year.

In 2018 Lionel won a quintet of middle-distance races – 70.3 Pucon, St George, Mont Tremblant and Indian Wells – La Quinta in addition to Challenge Samorin.

Four more victories followed in 2019 – 70.3 Augusta, Los Cabos, Indian Wells – La Quinta for a second consecutive year plus Challenge Daytona. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanders focused more on the full distance, though he recorded two victories in 2021 at 70.3 Texas and 70.3 St. George. Silver medals at IRONMAN Copenhagen, Chattanooga and Florida helped Sanders qualify for both the delayed 2021 and 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in 2022.  He bagged second place in the first of those in St George with a perfectly-paced performance, overtaking Braden Currie in the closing stages in a race which was won by Kristian Blummenfelt. Another podium wasn’t on the cards for Kona though, where he finished 34th.

In 2023, Sanders shifted focus onto the 70.3 distance but it was set to be a rollercoaster year with Sanders being controversially disqualified at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship for crossing an ‘imaginary’ centre line in the road. After strong performances and podiums at 70.3 races in the build up, Lionel was a favourite for the race.

2024 looked to be a better year for the Canadian star, with victories at 70.3 Oceanside, Mont Tremblant and IRONMAN Canada to his name. But a bike crash ultimately led to Lionel deciding to end his season early and miss the year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.

The 2025 season got off to flying start, and it looked like Sanders might be back to being one of the key contenders after a rocky couple of years. He kicked things off with wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and 70.3 St George. But it turns out No Limits does have limits, after an injury – which he believed to be as a result of RED-S (essentially, underfuelling and overtraining) – put things to a resounding halt. Sanders had to miss out on both the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, but announced at the end of October that he planned to race IRONMAN 70.3 La Quinta in December – and the lovely news that he and his partner Erin were expecting their second child.

It certainly seems Lionel Sanders doesn’t plan on stepping away from the pro race circuit anytime soon, stating recently: “I’m confident I can set myself up for success and to have 2026 be the best season of my career. That’s my goal and where I am mentally.”

Lionel Sanders at Kona

Lionel Sanders’ ultimate goal has been to become World Champion over the IRONMAN distance, having made seven trips to Hawaii so far.

His first trip to the island came in 2015 with a debut finish of 14th. A weak swim – the third slowest of the professional field – left Sanders with plenty of work to do on land. A mid-ranging bike split coupled with a top-10 marathon brought him through the field for a respectable maiden performance in Kona. 

A year later, Sanders shaved four minutes off his time but finished much further down the field. Again the swim was his Achilles heel – 42nd out of 43 finishers – despite improving by over four minutes on the discipline. Lionel got himself in contention with the fourth fastest bike split but a sub-par marathon cost the Canadian. Lionel was finding, as many before him, that success in Hawaii is not easy t achieve.

2017 was Sanders’ finest hour at Kona to date as he secured a silver medal. Around five minutes off the lead during the swim, he worked with German Sebastian Kienle on the bike to set a blistering 4:14:19 split for the 180km.  

However, Lionel was unable to stave off the relentless Patrick Lange, who chased him down on the marathon – this despite Sanders’ 2:51:53 being the fourth fastest run split in the entire race. 

Sanders struggled to 28th and 22nd place finishes in 2018 and 2019 respectively, with uncharacteristic marathon failures – 3:15:26 (2018) and 3:13:42 (2019) – a large factor in his disappointing finishes. After the high of finishing 2nd once again at the delayed 2021 IRONMAN World Championship in St George earlier in 2022, Kona that year was to be yet another low with Sanders finishing in 34th place trudging to the finish line with a 3:17:53 marathon split. Success on the Big Island still remains elusive – he finished 32nd in 2024. 

Lionel Sanders and family

Lionel married Erin MacDonald in a small ceremony in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in November 2017 – having got engaged at IRONMAN Florida in 2014. Erin, who also acts as Lionel’s full-time manager, organises all the logistics behind his training, racing and manages the Canadian’s sponsorship agreements. The pair have one child together, and another on the way. 

His mother and father, Becky and Doug, raised Sanders in Windsor, Ontario. Becky is also an active triathlete, regularly racing in middle and full-distance races.

Lionel Sanders – ‘No Limits’

‘No Limits’ is the much-publicised mantra of Lionel Sanders, developed from his own personal experiences in life to date.  

The mantra points out that there are no limits other than those self-created obstacles you put in front of yourself and these only exist in your own mind. That is the basis of Sanders’ entire triathlon journey – he tests that hypothesis every day.

Lionel Sanders gear

Sanders currently rides Canyon bikes. Other sponsors include HED wheels, Zwift, Whoop and H2O Audio. Previously sponsored by Blue70, more recently he has been swimming in a Roka wetsuit.