In the first 19 editions of the IRONMAN World Championship there were no fewer than 18 American male winners, with ‘Iron War’ duo Mark Allen and Dave Scott leading the way with six wins each.
But since Allen’s 1995 victory there have been just two – and none since 2002.
There’s not even been an American man on the podium this decade so what are the chances of the drought ending on Saturday?
The top ranked US athlete and wearing bib number six is Rudy von Berg – with only the ‘big five’ of defending champ Sam Laidlow, two-time winner Patrick Lange, Magnus Ditlev and Norwegian duo Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt ahead of him.
He went close to the podium last year with a fourth place in Nice despite breaking his collarbone in the build up so how does he rate his chances of going at least one better?
Juggling act
Chatting to Bob Babbitt on ‘Breakfast with Bob’ this week, embedded below, he explained that even though his results this year don’t look great – third at Challenge Roth is by far the best – that doesn’t tell the whole story.
For he’s combined the T100 (four races, with seventh in San Francisco the best of them) with two big full-distance targets – Roth and Kona.
When Bob asked if that’s been a tricky balance, he said: “Yeah definitely. For next year I’m going to have to choose. I can’t really do IRONMAN Pro Series or even just qualifying for the Worlds, do Nice and then the T100.
“There’s opportunity, which is what you want, but at the same time it can make it a bit more difficult if you try to juggle the different series.
“The T100 are such high-level races that you really have to focus on them, the same as you do for Kona. You wouldn’t focus on other races around Kona.
“Everyone has specific preps for Kona and I would sort of need the same for the T100.
I like to think I’m a bit of an athlete like Jan Frodeno in the sense that I have to focus on a race.
“I have to peak to perform really well against all these guys.
“The one I could train pretty well for, because it was in the build for Roth, was San Francisco and that was my best result. So I kind of proved to myself that if I do have the build I can still do well at a T100.”
‘It’s got to be Kona’
But the lead-in to Kona has been focussed and without distraction – his last race was back in July in London.
And von Berg hopes that will pay dividends, explaining: “I’ve had an 11-week build for this race and I’m feeling quite good so really hope it’s a good one.
“This is the first year I haven’t won a race since 2017 – so I was saying it’s got to be Kona then!”
His only previous appearance in Hawaii in 2022 saw him finish 20th to Iden when a 3:02 marathon – the only athlete inside the top 20 who didn’t break three hours – cost him dear.
“I took no sodium on the run so had to walk in the end,” he explained and, with lessons learned, his full-distance results since entitle him to the utmost respect.
In 2023 he won IRONMAN Texas, was fourth at the IMWC in Nice and then hit prime form with a course record to triumph at IRONMAN Florida.
And asked why he was wearing a bison hat for the interview – just as he had ahead of Roth – Rudy explained he’s had an affinity with what he calls the “coolest animal” since he was young.
“The bison heads into the storm, it’s the only animal that does that so you can sort of have a parallel with training and being tough, perseverance and all that.”
The bison goes into battle on Saturday – can he turn America’s fortunes around in the biggest men’s long-distance race out there?
