Lionel Sanders is zoned in on Kona yet again with the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship just over two weeks away, but this time things are different.
The 36-year-old Canadian superstar finished second in the biggest race in long-course triathlon back in 2017, but outside of that his recent performances in Hawaii have been underwhelming in comparison. He came home 28th (2018), 22nd (2019) and 34th (2022).
‘No Limits’ will go again on October 26, with a stellar field up against him – notably Norwegian pair Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden, and defending champion Sam Laidlow.
So what are Sanders’ goals heading into the big dance on the ‘Big Island’? The answer may well surprise.
Sanders goals for Kona 2024
Lionel, speaking in his latest Kona Vlog on YouTube (check out the full version at the bottom of this article), revealed: “What are my goals this race? I don’t have any, truly don’t have any goals.
“I’ve never done a race I didn’t wanna win, every race I’ve ever done in my entire life – pretty well every competition of any sort – I’ve wanted to win. Of course I want to win, yes. But my goals, I don’t have any – I’m just having fun.”
Sanders admits this is the first time ever he’s landed in Hawaii with fun as the main driver, and he also admits how different the sport is now compared to the day he finished second behind Patrick Lange in 2017. It’s a brutal reality.
“The guys at the top now don’t have weaknesses. I have a weakness, my swimming’s weak. If I repeated that performance now [from 2017], it might crack the top 10 now if you repeated that.”
That swim weakness means Lionel will again be playing catchup, but ‘No Limits’ knows absolutely his limits when it comes to making inroads into that deficit. Anybody who expects him to be near the front of the race on the bike should recalibrate those thoughts.
Race strategy
“Front of the race on the bike? Because it would probably require 330/340 watts on average for me to bridge to Sam Laidlow on the bike. So that’s not realistic. I just understand my body a lot better than I did then, there’s no room for that kind of stupidity.
“Getting to the front, what does that mean, but who is at the front? Now, the people at the front, you’re not gonna get to them if you spot them five minutes in the water. No, that would be dumb, if you want to have your best race, don’t worry about the other guys.
“I think it’s an advantage for a guy like Laidlow to come out at the front and be so strong on the bike because he doesn’t worry about the other guys – he’s racing his own race, he’s doing it at the front.”
