British athlete Susie Cheetham, who was 11th in Kona last season despite an interrupted build-up, has been ruled out of this year’s IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii due to a bout of pneumonia.

She’s twice finished sixth in the showpiece event and was third last time out to Lisa Norden at IRONMAN Sweden in August.

‘Such a big part of my life’

But writing on Instagram she revealed: “Beyond gutted not to be able to start The Ironman World Champs this year.

“I’ve been down with pneumonia for weeks. I had held onto the hope that I may be able to heal in time. But unfortunately my lungs have been damaged and a chest X-ray last week confirmed I shouldn’t race.

“For the last 2 years, staying healthy long enough to put together a few good weeks of training has been the biggest challenge of my career. But more on that another time.

“Kona has been such a big part of my life, it’s been my focus, it’s been good to me and it’s also been cruel. I think it’s the uncertainty and the unpredictability as we push ourselves to the limit that make the race so great.

“For the first time in nine years, this year I’ll be cheering from the sidelines. It’ll be tough, but I’m excited to watch these incredible women put on a show.”

Stacked field

Cheetham is the first name from a stellar start list to have to withdraw, with the long-distance race of the season bringing together reigning champion Chelsea Sodaro, Daniela Ryf and Anne Haug, who between them have won all the renewals since 2015.

Also there is four-time runner-up Lucy Charles-Barclay and reigning 70.3 World Champion Taylor Knibb, who will be making her IRONMAN debut.