Anne Haug, the 2019 IRONMAN World Champion and the current world record holder for the fastest women’s full-distance time, has announced her retirement.

The 42-year-old German great has had a tough spell in the last 12 months – in complete contrast to the rest of her career – since she set that astonishing 8:02:38 record time at Challenge Roth in July 2024.

She’s not won since then and has suffered health and injury setbacks, the latest meaning she was a DNF at Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz on 13th July.

‘My will is broken’

Announcing the news in an exclusive interview with Germany’s Die Welt, she explained: “I’ve always lived for my sport, but after the race in Spain, I know: I’ve reached the point where I’m ending my career.

“My will broke in that race. It’s broken in general. That’s very shocking, but the day had to come at some point.

“I’ve made a rule for myself for 20 years: I never drop out of a race, no matter how tough it gets. Out of respect for my fellow competitors. It was always very clear: If I break the rule, it’s over.

“I would have wanted it to be different, I would have liked to complete the World Championships, but it’s not possible anymore.”

And on Instagram, Haug underlined those sentiments when she said: “If the mental and physical batteries are empty, it’s time for me to go.

“The last two years have been a massive struggle in terms of my physical health and keep the mental strength to always fight my way back. Last weekend in the race, my willpower was just not strong enough to win this battle against my body anymore.”

It’s a significant change from just a few weeks ago.

Asked by fellow German superstar Sebastian Kienle on the live broadcast at Challenge Roth in July whether it could be her last appearance at Kona this year she replied she had no intention of retiring just yet.

She said then: “I think I’m still improving numbers wise but I want to feel the work I put in reflects my performance.”

Anne Haug’s incredible career

Haug’s career has been a remarkable one by any standards, one of the greatest of all time.

She only turned professional at the age of 27 in 2010 and represented her country in two Olympic Games.

But it was over longer distances that she became a legend of the sport.

She was the first German female to win the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 2019 when she overhauled Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay on the run.

Coached throughout by the highly successful Dan Lorang – the two met while studying sports science at the Technological University of Munich – her consistency at middle and full-distance has been unmatched.

She says that Lorang told her to sleep on her retirement decision – but that she knew the moment she dropped out of Vitoria-Gasteiz that her career was over.

From her 70.3 debut in 2017 through to that Challenge Roth win in 2024 she finished on the podium at every single individual race she competed in bar one – and that was a fourth at IRONMAN Frankfurt. In total that was 27 times out of 28, including no less than 15 victories.

Her biggest weapon was her run – whether at 70.3 or full-distance – and she clocked a 2:38:52 marathon in that record-breaking Roth win 12 months ago.