Germany’s Laura Philipp saw off Britain’s Kat Matthews to win the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice for the first time.
Philipp’s three previous appearances in full-distance triathlon’s biggest race – which was paying a first visit to Europe for the women – had seen her finish in the top four on every occasion.
But this was the first time she had really contended for top spot on the podium as she and Matthews delivered an absorbing battle after moving to the front on the bike.
By that point they were the two clear favourites given that defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay had been ruled out less than 24 hours before the race, while last year’s runner-up Anne Haug was already a DNF.
It was shoulder to shoulder early on the run but Philipp made her move on the second of four laps and never looked back as Matthews was reduced to a walk late on.
It all meant Philipp was able to significantly stretch out her advantage in the closing stages and she stopped the clock in 8:45:15.
Matthews had to dig incredibly deep to keep moving on the run but she did just that and crossed the line eight minutes back to repeat her runner-up spot when the rescheduled 2021 IMWC was held at St George in 2022.
And 2022 Kona champion Chelsea Sodaro (USA) completed the podium in third, a further 11 minutes adrift.
Swim – Langridge leads the way
The first big surprise of the day was a drop in water temperature meaning a wetsuit legal swim, with eventual winner Philipp one of those delighted to hear that news.
But there was also plenty of chop for the athletes to contend with – as well as one of the guides on the paddle surf boards getting tangled up with some of them at the start.
With no Charles-Barclay it was Lauren Brandon (USA) who led it out in the early stages but the big headline was the fact that Matthews was right in the mix in the front group and putting distance into some of the other big favourites.
Marta Sanchez (SPA) then took over on the front and Fenella Langridge smoothly eased onto her feet in second, with Hannah Berry (NZL) not far behind.
Rebecca Clarke (NZL), Lotte Wilms (NED) and Rachel Zilinskas (USA) were other strong swimmers to the fore alongside Brandon and as things settled down we had a front group of 11.
Matthews continued to swim superbly to stay with the group in eighth, with a small gap then to French duo Julie Iemmolo and Marjolaine Pierré in ninth and tenth.
And battling hard to stay in touch at the back of the 11-strong group was Sodaro.
Out of the water it was still Langridge and Sanchez locked together and the front seven all within 10 seconds of each other.
Matthews lost a little ground late on but would surely have been delighted to be just 30 seconds off the lead going into T1, with Sodaro at +45s.
After the front group, there was then a gap back to India Lee (GBR) in 12th after she found herself isolated late in the swim, just over three minutes back.
We then had a select five-woman chase pack which included German pre-race favourites Haug (+3:54) and Philipp (+4:03).
They were followed by Jackie Hering (USA) who led the next group at just over six minutes back.
Bike – Matthews and Philipp take charge
So much had been written and talked about the up-and-down one-lap 180km bike course beforehand – but there was unwanted drama right from the outset.
Just 200 metres after leaving transition, 2019 winner Haug was out after her rear tyre suffered a huge puncture which was pretty much unfixable – and mechanics were nowhere to be seen. The reasons why and Haug’s reaction are here.
And then 10km in, Zilinskas’ race was over too after she suffered a broken collarbone.
By this point Nice native Pierré had flown the front group on roads she knew so well. After just 27km she had stretched her lead to 2:27, with Matthews leading the chasers.
But as they tackled the biggest climb of the day – the 10.9km Col de l’Ecre with an average gradient of 8% – things would change dramatically.
And it was Philipp, who had started the bike over four minutes back, who was animating the race. First of all she moved into third and then eased past Matthews to take second.
By halfway point she’d caught Pierré too – though just 20 seconds separated the front three.
And that would set the tone for the second half of the ride as Philipp and Matthews had a thrilling see-saw battle on the climbs and descents which played perfectly to their brilliant bike-handling skills.
Heading back to Nice it was the Brit who was back in front, though by now Pierré had dropped nearly three minutes back. And up to fourth at +6:59 was Sodaro.
The cat and mouse between Matthews and Philipp continued all the way into T2, with the two pretty much shoulder to shoulder at the dismount line.
Pierré would cross it in third at +6:43, followed by Sodaro at +9:48 – but surely it was already between the front two, with both of them outstanding runners.
Run – Philipp breaks Matthews
The run began as the bike had ended, with nothing between Matthews and Philipp.
But early on the second of four laps was when Philipp eased clear. The gap was only a few seconds to start with but every kilometre it increased slightly and by the halfway point it was over a minute.
Sodaro meanwhile had moved ahead of Pierré and into third – though she was losing ground on the two leaders and now over 12 minutes back.
There were problems further back though – Ruth Astle (GBR) was seventh after the bike but dropped out of contention early on the run. And Alice Alberts (USA) was struggling with stomach issues and forced to walk at some stages but battled on.
Moving in the opposite direction Nikki Bartlett (GBR) had started to cut through the field and was up to sixth by halfway, just a place behind Sanchez.
But back to the head of the field, Philipp was relentless and the elastic well and truly snapped near the end of the third lap. The gap at that point was three minutes but Matthews was now reduced to a walk and desperately trying to take on calories.
She did get running again but barring an implosion from Philipp, the race for first place was all but over.
Starting the final lap and with just over 10km to go, she had five minutes in hand on Matthews who had again slowed and was trying to stretch out her right leg.
Doing everything right to keep her hopes of second on track, Matthews was again on the move and getting great support from the crowd.
It was a bold and brave performance from the Brit and she was rewarded with second place.
Sodaro rounded out the podium with a fine third after having her own struggles late on the run which had meant she was unable to make up the required ground on Matthews.
IRONMAN World Championship 2024 Results
Sunday September 22, 2024 – Nice, France
PRO Women
- 1. Laura Philipp (GER) – 8:45:15 (53:16 / 5:02:25 / 2:44:59)
- 2. Kat Matthews (GBR) – 8:53:20 (49:43 / 5:05:46 / 2:53:06)
- 3. Chelsea Sodaro (USA) – 9:04:38 (49:58 / 5:15:14 / 2:54:25)
- 4. Marjolaine Pierre (FRA) – 9:09:34 (49:56 / 5:12:27 / 3:02:30)
- 5. Nikki Bartlett (GBR) – 9:15:47 (55:30 / 5:17:42 / 2:57:24)
- 6. Marta Sanchez (ESP) – 9:19:08 (49:13 / 5:18:00 / 3:06:27)
- 7. Penny Slater (AUS) – 9:21:47 (56:46 / 5:18:36 / 3:01:22)
- 8. Lotte Wilms (NED) – 9:23:28 (49:19 / 5:22:02 / 3:05:39)
- 9. Jackie Hering (USA) – 9:25:09 (55:23 / 5:26:07 / 2:57:40)
- 10. Hannah Berry (NZL) – 9:32:13 (49:20 / 5:28:25 / 3:09:25)
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