Natalie Grabow, 80, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey has become the oldest women to finish the IRONMAN World Championship.
The American age-grouper was the first ever female finisher in the 80-84 category in Kona at the weekend in what is the biggest full-distance triathlon event in the world, with athletes from around the globe spend the preceding year trying to earn a coveted spot.
Grabow had booked her place by winning her age category at IRONMAN Maryland and at Kona she completed the 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and 42km run in 16 hours, 45 minutes and 26 seconds, winning the F80-84 division in her 10th start at the iconic Hawaii event.
Amazing achievement
Grabow only discovered triathlon in her sixties – though she was a prolific runner before then. And her heroics in Hawaii see her take over from Cherie Gruenfeld, who completed Kona at age 78 – as the record holder.
As we reported here on TRI247, Gruenfeld was inducted into the IRONMAN Hall of Fame during Kona week for her remarkable achievements in the sport.
And Grabow’s performance was all the more impressive as the searing heat and incredible humidity in Hawaii during the event stopped some of the world’s very best professional triathletes from making it to the finish.
All the Age Group world champions from Kona
Grabow was one of the 13 best female Age Group triathletes in the world who claimed their respective titles on Saturday.
More than 1,600 registered athletes from 78 countries, regions and territories had qualified for triathlon’s pinnacle event.
The overall Age-Group World Champion crown went to Anchorage, with Alaska’s Samantha Skold racing in the W30-34 category and finishing in a blistering time of 9:34:59.
The United States had the most Age-Group World Champions with three, earning titles in the W30-34, W50-54, and W75-79.
At the other end of the spectrum to Grabow, the youngest Age Group World Champion was Hannah Rossler from Vienna, Austria competing in the W18-24 and posting a 9:56:04 finish time.
Below are the World Champions for each age group.
| Division | First Name | City, State, Country | Country Representing | Time |
| W18-24 | Hannah Rossler | Vienna, Austria | Austria | 9:56:04 |
| W25-29 | Lou Prigent | Versailles, France | France | 9:43:16 |
| W30-34 | Samantha Skold | Anchorage, Alaska, USA | USA | 9:34:59 |
| W35-39 | Joanna Soltysiak-Vrebac | Koło, Poland | Poland | 9:45:57 |
| W40-44 | Christina Paulus | Hamelin, Germany | Germany | 9:57:09 |
| W45-49 | Jana Richtrova | Spring, Texas, USA | Czech Republic | 10:03:31 |
| W50-54 | Sharon Schmidt-Mongrain | Lafayette Hill, Penn., USA | USA | 10:06:55 |
| W55-59 | Brigitte McMahon | Baar, Switzerland, USA | Switzerland | 10:40:21 |
| W60-64 | Caroline Anderson | Claremont, Australia | Australia | 11:36:12 |
| W65-69 | Sharon McDowell-Larsen | Grand Junction, Colo., USA | Canada | 12:30:37 |
| W70-74 | Michele Allison | Wellington, New Zealand | New Zealand | 13:24:27 |
| W75-79 | Sunny McKee | San Fransico, Calif., USA | USA | 15:51:50 |
| W80-84 | Natalie Grabow | Mountain Lakes, N.J., USA | USA | 16:45:26 |
