From despair to joy in four short weeks – with heartbreak along the way. That was Lucy Charles-Barclay’s journey to a second IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship crown.
The despair came in Kona when the heat and humidity got the better of her midway through the run after herself and Taylor Knibb had dominated the race until that point.
The heartbreak was the loss of someone close not long afterwards and with less than a month between Kona and the 70.3 Worlds it was far from certain she would even make the start line.
But what happened next went a long way to erasing the disappointment of that brutal DNF in Hawaii.
Charles-Barclay, who won her first 70.3 world title in St. George in 2021, led the swim on the Costa del Sol. She then bossed the bike alongside Knibb, who was searching for a fourth straight crown and was herself bouncing back from a crushing late capitulation in Kona.
The run was then one-way traffic, with Charles-Barclay easing past Knibb after 7km and then putting three minutes between them by the time they crossed the line.
And speaking afterwards on the live broadcast to Mirinda Carfrae, Lucy said: “I started pretty well in the swim. I saw I had a decent gap so I was like, okay I think the day is pretty much going to plan. But the day got off to a fantastic start in Kona and it didn’t end how I thought it would!
“So I didn’t get carried away – I was saying to myself, just keep your cool and do what you need to do and get onto the bike.
“Obviously I had company with Taylor out there and I know how phenomenal she is on the bike, so I thought as long as I could kind of stay with her, it could be my ticket to the win today.
“She came past me on the first climb and we were definitely pushing some big girl watts out there today – I think it might be a power PB for me over 90K.
“And I felt super strong on that run so I couldn’t be more happy with how the day panned out.”
‘A really tough time’
Asked if it erased the disappointment of the Kona eclipse, LCB added: “Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of heartbreak in Kona.
“Then we came home and we unfortunately lost a family member, someone really special to us. So it was a really, really tough time.
“Hopefully this is going to bring some positive energy to the family. I definitely had some angel wins out there today and I think they helped me fly around the course so I’m really grateful that I could do that for them.
“And thanks to all of my team who have got me here. It hasn’t been easy, but we made it and yeah, it’s definitely made up for the disappointment of Kona, knowing that it’s possible to turn it around.”
Speaking later at the post-race press conference, she admitted: “Coming into the race I didn’t have a lot of expectation – it was more about seeing how the body came round and trying to enjoy the course.”
And she added: “What happened back home really changed my perspective quite a lot. It was like okay, Kona’s behind me but I’m still healthy, I’m happy I’m here. Life is short and you have to enjoy it. So I was thinking no matter what shape I’m in, if I can be on the start line somewhat healthy and my team is backing me then I’m going to be here.
“Thankfully it came together and I think it’s brought a lot of positivity to the family in what’s been a really tough time so I’m so glad I could do that and honour the person we lost.”
She also said that given all that had happened it felt the most special of her three world titles – quite a statement given that her Kona victory in 2023 came after four successive second places at the IRONMAN World Championship.
You can watch the press conference in full below.
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