Kristian Blummenfelt has taken his run to a new level this season – but his latest video sends out the chilling news to his rivals that there’s still more potential speed to be gained.
Though there was also the shock news that he might be tempted to skip the 70.3 Worlds this year in order to put 100% of his focus on regaining the IRONMAN World Championship crown in Kona.
All of this comes in a fascinating new YouTube update, embedded below, which covers two days of VO2 testing alongside his long-term mentor Olav Aleksander Bu, who coached him to not only the 2021 Olympic title in Tokyo but also both the IRONMAN World Championship and 70.3 World titles the following year.
Hunter rather than the hunted?
Of course Blummenfelt’s VO2 figure at the start of 2026 made global headlines and you’ll have to watch the video to find out what they are at the mid-point of his campaign, but it’s fair to say both he and Bu take plenty of encouragement from where he is right now, even if ‘Big Blu’ insists his fitness level six weeks out from a first appearance at Challenge Roth makes him the “chaser” and reigning champion Sam Laidlow the target in Germany.
Blummenfelt raced no fewer than four high-profile races in a six-week block in March and April, bouncing back brilliantly from a mechanical-hit IRONMAN New Zealand to claim victories at 70.3 Geelong, 70.3 Oceanside and IRONMAN Texas.
His run form powered him away from his rivals in all of those, with 1:06 and 1:07 half marathons and then a 2:30 full marathon in Texas.
But he’s not resting on those laurels, with Bu revealing late in the video after the VO2 testing switches from the bike to the run: “It’s moving in the right direction, but there’s more speed to be gained.”
All down to Kona result
What also becomes evident is that Blummenfelt’s big two targets for 2026 look to have switched from the two IRONMAN World Championships to first Roth and then Kona.
At Roth he will take on a stellar field in what is his debut in the legendary Bavarian event, with Laidlow, Patrick Lange and Jonas Schomburg the standout names on the men’s side.
Blummenfelt will head there after an altitude spell of training in St Moritz and he might then go back to the Swiss Alps ahead of Kona, revealing in the video: “I know at least that Gustav and Casper [Iden and Stornes] are planning to do the 70.3s in Nice. I’m not sure – I might skip it and go straight to Hawaii.”
That will be a huge call – he went within metres of winning the 70.3 title back last season after an epic duel with Jelle Geens – but it shows the importance he is putting on Kona, especially after last year when he was frustrated to only finish third behind Stornes and Iden in that historic Norwegian clean sweep of the IRONMAN World Championship podium.
As he put it himself at the end of this video: “After Roth and Hawaii, we can sum up whether it’s been a good season or not.”
