British triathlon superstar Lucy Charles-Barclay is OUT of the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship as injury ruins title defence

Defending IRONMAN World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay was one of the hot favourites for victory again in the 2024 showpiece in Nice on the Cote d’Azur on Sunday (September 22). But sadly, the dream is over for the British superstar.

A season that has been spent carefully managing an Achilles injury she picked up while running her way to victory at Kona in 2023 has taken another turn with discomfort she experienced in her leg this week now diagnosed as a grade 1c muscle strain.

The announcement of LCB’s absence from the Nice start line came on Saturday, less than 24hrs before the gun is due to go on the 2024 women’s IRONMAN World Championship (you can watch the race live here).

Heavy heart

Making the announcement on her Instagram page, she revealed: “It’s with a heavy heart that I share I won’t be able to race in the Ironman World Championships this Sunday.”

“I felt some pain in my leg yesterday morning. After consulting with my medical team and some scans we’ve confirmed that the discomfort in my leg is due to a grade 1c muscle strain.”

It’s not the first time that injury has led to disappointment for Charles-Barclay this season, after ongoing issues from that Kona 2023 injury saw her DNF at her home race in July – London T100. Speaking to Bob Babbitt earlier this week, she described the injury as “a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and if I get it wrong it’s really unhappy, if I get it right then it’s great.”

Thinking ahead

While the muscle strain is currently described as a ‘relatively minor issue’, Charles-Barclay highlights that racing on it could turn it into a far bigger problem, explaining: “…after what I went through last year, I don’t want to risk facing months of rehabilitation again.”

How LCB’s DNS could impact the race dynamics

With Lucy absent from the start line, that means whatever happens out on the race course on Sunday we will be crowning a new IRONMAN World Champion.

Germany’s Anne Haug, who won in Kona in 2019, will now be many people’s top pick to take the crown. But she’ll have stiff competition from the likes of Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews to contend with. Our John Levison has tipped Matthews as his pick for the win – so don’t rule out a British champion quite yet.

And without Lucy to tear the field apart on the swim, we could see Philipp, Matthews and Haug locked in a battle out on the bike course far sooner into the race than we might have anticipated. LCB’s absence could certainly shake up the race dynamics, leaving the door open for some of the uber cyclists in the field such as Els Visser to be right up there in contention.

It’s certainly not a race you’ll want to miss. Stock up on the popcorn and find out how to tune in live.