The men’s race in Kona started at 06:20 local time, and we’ll have detailed reports here after the swim, bike and run legs.
While each one of those is in progress you can follow along with our live updates page here.
Swim – Blummenfelt holds on to leaders
The men got underway, as a healthy early-morning swell ensured there would be some tricky, choppy swimming conditions in Kailua Bay to contend with.
Almost immediately, the field started to thin out as members of the much-discussed WhatsApp group looked to press the early pace and make a telling move.
The likes of Jonas Schomburg (GER), Wilhelm Hirsch (GER), Jamie Riddle (SAF), Marten Van Riel (BEL), Patrick Lange (GER), and Menno Koolhaas (NED) were positioned among a sizeable but stretched-out lead group.
Just as the field had done at Challenge Roth and the 70.3 World Championships, it seemed there was a clear plan to try and put as much time and water between the front and danger man Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) as possible.
However, as the athletes were being bounced around by the swell, it was clearly not at all easy for them to make their getaway, and Blummenfelt was able to cling on to the lengthy lead pack and ensure that he was never more than 30 seconds behind.
The opening 1.2km was completed in 14 and a half minutes, which was probably a little too slow for the likes of Riddle, who had made it very clear that he would do everything within his power to speed things up and go out as fast as possible.
At the turnaround, there were 20 to 30 swimmers within just 30 seconds of one another, with France’s Pierre Le Corre taking turns with Hirsch, Riddle, Frederick Funk (GER), Ven Reil and Schomburg at the head of the race.
Blummenfelt, having been beaten into second place at both Roth and the 70.3 Worlds after leaving himself with simply too much to do on the runs, was well aware of the tactic expected to be deployed against him and was able to maintain his position at the back of those leaders.
However, he was made to work even harder as they turned and made their way back to shore, with the significant swell now very much in their favour.
At one point it did look as though Blummenfelt might be dropped, but the big Norwegian dug deep and would have been delighted to exit the water in 24th place, only 31 seconds behind Van Riel, who was first to reach dry land in a time of 48:17.
Koolhaas was second, followed by a group that included Hirsch, Matthew Marquardt (USA) – who had pulled off a brilliant swim – and Le Corre, Lange and Sam Laidlow (FRA), who were all within 30 seconds of the Belgian.
The next group out of the water included former champion Gustav Iden (NOR), but he was now 1:51 back from the leaders and would need to play catch-up on the bike.
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marten Van Riel | BEL | 48:17 |
| 2 | Menno Koolhaas | NED | 48:18 |
| 3 | Wilhelm Hirsch | GER | 48:21 |
| 4 | Matthew Marquardt | USA | 48:25 |
| 5 | Kacper Stepniak | POL | 48:25 |
| 6 | Antonio Benito Lopez | ESP | 48:27 |
| 7 | Jamie Riddle | RSA | 48:28 |
| 8 | Pierre Le Corre | FRA | 48:29 |
| 9 | Jumpei Furuya | JPN | 48:29 |
| 10 | Andrea Salvisberg | SUI | 48:29 |
Bike –
report will appear here later…
Run –
report will appear here later…
IRONMAN World Championship 2026 results
Saturday October 10th, 2026 – Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, 3.8km / 180km / 42.2km
PRO Men
full results and splits will appear here later…
