Daniel Baekkegard is working his way back to the podium after a difficult 2025 ended with him being dropped by two of his “dream sponsors”.
The Dane was in the top 10 of the world rankings just a few years ago and is a multiple IRONMAN and 70.3 winner.
But his last success came at IRONMAN Western Australia at the end of 2023, with two torn discs in his back hampering his progress since then and forcing him to rethink his whole way of training.
Third place at T100 London in 2024 underlined the talent remains but fourth at IRONMAN Texas – just ahead of subsequent IRONMAN World Champion Casper Stornes – was about as good as it got in 2025.
The campaign was rounded off with a DNF after the bike at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and the harsh reality is that he’s now dropped out of the top 50 in the rankings and is no longer a brand ambassador for Canyon or Red Bull.
‘I’ve thought of retiring’
But the fightback has already started and that’s coincided with a return to YouTube, a medium which has really seen him raise the bar in recent years for triathlon content creation.
His first video back, embedded below and filmed by Mitch Wiesinger, was raw and honest as he looks to come to terms with the situation he finds himself in at the start of the 2026 campaign.
Reflecting on the end of last year, he admits: “That Nice DNF was pretty devastating and something I spent a long time reflecting on.
“I’ve thought of retiring and whether it was time to call it.
“I got the news that Canyon and Red Bull wanted to stop working together [with me] – obviously that sucked and that’s still something I’m struggling quite a bit about. I love being a brand ambassador.
“I’m up against guys like Hayden [Wilde] and Sam Laidlow. Obviously I’m not performing the way they are and I’m not blind to them having a way bigger impact.”
Fighting back
But Baekkegard, who turns 30 in a few months, says he spoke at length to his parents, his girlfriend and his friends and that’s resulted in a clear change of mindset.
He said: “I was thinking it’s a great chance to really push yourself because it’s so uncomfortable right now.
“If I can get myself back up from this then I can get myself back up from everything.
“You just have to find your way through it. It takes time but I’m starting to find my feet and see possibilities instead of just sitting around and crying about it. Sometimes it helps to get a kick in the face to rethink how you want to have your life and your business structured.
“So now we’re going to raise the ceiling and just perform.
“I have to sit down and really think hard about the few races I really want to perform at – and then show up there at 110%.
“I can show you the way from here to a podium in Hawaii.”
It’s going to be a fascinating journey to follow so great news that he and Mitch have teamed up again to capture it all on film.
The latest video, just released and embedded below, shows him training through a Swiss winter from his base in St Moritz as skimo, mountain hills reps and much more help him build up his aerobic base and VO2 max.
