It was the race Casper Stornes had planned for all year, but his IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship dream died before the race even started.
The 27-year-old Norwegian star may have been put in the shade by team-mates Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden in recent years, but he had every reason to be optimistic heading into Sunday’s massive showdown in Taupō, New Zealand.
Stornes had won his two starts over the 70.3 distance in the past 12 months – at Indian Wells late last year and then in Warsaw in June. But as he made his final preparations to take on Jelle Geens, Hayden Wilde and co, disaster struck.
Casper says he was ‘taken down by a car’ just a couple of days out from go time, leaving him unable to start the big race. It left him not only with cuts and bruises, but struggling to breathe due to rib injuries sustained in the incident.
So instead of going for glory, he was left on the sidelines as Geens ran down Wilde in a thrilling finale to take the top step on the podium.
Casper Stornes on 70.3 Worlds DNS
He took to social media as the race was starting, cutting a sad figure as he revealed how he would have loved to be on the line instead of speaking about his injuries.
Speaking in a video on his Instagram account, Casper said: “Unfortunately I’m not down there at the start right now, since just under two days ago I got taken down by a car, so a bit sore in the body.
“But the worst is the ribs, it hurts a lot, I can’t breathe properly. It’s devastating that I won’t race today. It’s really hard mentally but we focus onwards and upwards and we will be back stronger.”
Sad end to a tough year for Stornes
The agony in New Zealand was a sad end to a tough year for Casper, who missed out on selection for the Norwegian Olympic team at Paris 2024. The selectors instead plumped for Vetle Bergsvik Thorn to race alongside the defending champion Blummenfelt.
Casper had struggled in the key prep races for France, finishing 37th at WTCS Yokohama and 42nd at WTCS Cagliari, but says he will continue to chase that Olympic dream towards Los Angeles in 2028.
We hope to see him back to full health and top form soon as he looks to bounce back in 2025.
