Reigning IRONMAN World Champion Casper Stornes has ruled himself out of his title defence in Kona after crashing during a training ride on the Big Island.
The Norwegian said a powerful gust of wind caught his front wheel on Thursday, twisting it and sending him over the handlebars. He landed on his shoulder, breaking his collarbone, and said he had also sustained a fracture to what he described as his “L3 bone” in his back.
“I had a crash yesterday on the bike,” Stornes explained in a video shared on Friday and embedded below. “I was unlucky and got a very hard blow from the wind on my front wheel. It got twisted, I lost control of the bike and flew over the handlebars.”
Gustav Iden was riding behind him but avoided the crash. “Luckily, I didn’t take Gustav with me,” Stornes said. “How he got away from that one is insane.”
Stornes won last year’s world title in Nice ahead of compatriots Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt, completing a Norwegian sweep of the podium. He would have been among the leading contenders when the championship returns to Kona on 10 October.
‘It could have been way worse’
Stornes had been on the island for only two days when the crash happened. While disappointed to miss the race, he stressed that the outcome could have been more serious.
“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t injure myself more. It could have been way worse.”
He has yet to establish whether he will have surgery in Hawai‘i or return home first. That decision, he said, will be made after discussions with doctors and his insurance company.
“My off-season starts two weeks earlier than expected,” he added. “This is me out of Kona 2026, and I’ll have to come back in 2027.”
Massive blow
Up until now Stornes had enjoyed another impressive season – he was on the podium at both 70.3 Oceanside and IRONMAN Texas and then won IRONMAN Frankfurt before finishing sixth at the 70.3 World Championships.
His withdrawal also has implications for the IRONMAN Pro Series title race. Kona is the final event of the 2026 series and carries up to 6,000 points; Stornes had been in contention with Blummenfelt for the overall title. The precise effect on the standings will depend on the final scores and which results count towards each athlete’s best five.
