Search
shop

IRONMAN Kona 2024: Kristian Blummenfelt World Championship bid hurt by PROJECTILE VOMITING on bike leg

Former IMWC hit by vomiting episode after he'd worked his way up into third place early on the bike in Kona.
News Director
Last updated -

Kristian Blummenfelt saw his IRONMAN World Championship derailed in Kona as he lost both chunks of time as well as his nutrition early on the bike with a repeated bout of vomiting.

The former Olympic champion started the race as one of the big three favourites for a second IMWC title to add to his triumph in the rescheduled 2021 race in St George.

And as the Kona race developed, he’d moved up into third place behind the other two market leaders – Sam Laidlow and Magnus Ditlev – before things started to go wrong.

Advertisement

Previous history for ‘Big Blu’

After 31 of the 112-mile bike section a big effort had moved ‘Big Blu’ to one minute and 58 seconds behind Laidlow and right on the tail of Ditlev.

But then a sequence of projectile vomiting on the bike saw most of the nutrition he’d take on board up to that point end up on the Hawaii roads. In total the Norwegian great threw up eight times in quick succession.

We’ve seen this before with Blummenfelt – including when he won in St George and then last time out on the run at IRONMAN Frankfurt – and on both of those occasions he still ran out the winner.

But this looked a more violent episode and after 41 miles he’d lost nearly a minute on Ditlev.

Brave battle

However things looked to have settled down slightly and he was starting to take on board some more fuel.

Before the vomiting he had appeared to be struggling to negotiate moving through what was a huge chase group behind Laidlow.

With nearly 20 men in close proximity, drafting penalties were a real threat and Blummenfelt’s stop-start progress was in stark contrast to the power-packed surge into second of uber-biker Ditlev.

Blummenfelt then found himself back in that bike chase pack after the vomiting episode, though that did allow him to regroup with more than half the race still to go.

And he would still clock an impressive 4:05:47 on the bike – not much more than a minute outside the previous course record – despite his problems.

However the run proved even more of a challenge and a 3:32:04 marathon would see him cross the line in 35th place.

He wasn’t the only one to suffer though – defending champ Laidlow would blow up on the run as Patrick Lange overcame a nine-minute deficit to cruise past him before halfway en route to a third title.

Jonathan Turner
Written by
Jonathan Turner
Jonathan Turner is News Director for both TRI247 and RUN247, and is accustomed to big-name interviews, breaking news stories and providing unrivalled coverage for endurance sports.  
Discover more
Challenge The Championship Marjolaine Pieree
How to qualify for Challenge The Championship – and why it should be on your triathlon bucket list
TRI247 Wahoo KICKR RUN treadmill review
Wahoo KICKR RUN treadmill review – can Wahoo do for treadmill running what they did for indoor cycling?
Challenge Cesenatico 2024 debut - image credit Jose Luis Hourcade / Challenge Family
5 ways to improve your FTP – Expert tips to level up your cycling
sumarpo triathlon swimming wetsuit
Wetsuit buying guide – How to choose the best wetsuit for triathlon, open water swimming, SwimRun and cold water
Challenge Almere-Amsterdam long distance triathlon bike course
How to cycle in a head wind – tips for riding your bike in windy conditions
latest News
Lakesman Triathlon swim Derwentwater
British race is voted the Best Triathlon in the World
VinFast IRONMAN World Championship 2023 - Lucy Charles-Barclay bike aero
IRONMAN world champions to ride with cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy
Jonny and Alistair Brownlee Ask AL AI
Triathlon’s Brownlee brothers made each other great with love and war philosophy which drove them to Olympic glory
Lucy Gossage finish line wall Montane Winter Spine Race 2025 [Photo credit: Wild Aperture Photography / The Spine Race]
How one key piece of triathlon advice helped Lucy Gossage win Britain’s most BRUTAL ultrarunning race
Paris 2024 Olympics - Cassandre Beaugrand wins
Olympic champion targets 5k test and says triathlon in February ‘makes no sense to me’
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...