Such is the subjective nature of professional sport that it is often hard to rank performances in terms of best and worst – particularly in triathlon, where there are so many distance and discipline variations.
Not that such difficulties have prevented the TRI247 team from attempting to pick their five most impressive displays of the season from both the men’s and women’s elite fields.
Today, we look at the women and propose a top five races countdown which span right across full IRONMAN, 70.3, the World Triathlon Championship Series and the T100 World Triathlon Tour.
Our criteria were simple. Ignore the distances and judge the performances on three key factors alone – their importance to the sport, the level of ‘wow’ factor, and the significance of the race in terms of what was on the line for the athlete.
Of course, not everyone will agree, and we expect you to have your own opinions… After all, isn’t that the very beauty of professional sport?
5 – Laura Philipp (GER): IRONMAN Hamburg
Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025.
Reason for inclusion: New IRONMAN world record time.
Germany’s Laura Philipp shows why she is the reigning IRONMAN World Champion with a record-breaking win in Hamburg after an epic battle in what will surely go down as a race for the ages with Britain’s Kat Matthews.
The duo had treated the triathlon world to a stunning show when they came first and second in the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice last year – but this showdown for the European Championship was arguably even a level up on that.
With virtually nothing between them throughout, Philipp only asserted her decisive lead with just under 8km of the run to go before stopping the clock at an incredible 8:03:13.
That – and Matthews’ own 8:05:13 – smashed the previous fastest time ever by a woman in an IRONMAN-branded full-distance race, which Matthews had set herself at IRONMAN Texas in April when she clocked 8:10:34.
And it also came incredibly close to Anne Haug’s fastest full-distance triathlon time of 8:02:38 from Challenge Roth last year. But for the super-long transitions in Hamburg, it’s not far-fetched to say that sub-eight could have been under threat.
Phillip, Matthews and third-placed Solveig Løvseth would later in the season end up also being the podium trio in the IRONMAN World Championsip in Kona, albeit in reverse order to Hamburg.
“It was absolutely mental. We were glued together for the entire race,” said Philipp. “It was super tough, and for a long time, it looked like Kat would run away with it.
“But I just tried to be calm and patient because a marathon is a long game. And luckily it paid off; I let her go a little bit and just did my own thing, and the crowd was crazy.”
Asked if a sub-eight could be possible in the future, she replied: “Yeah, I think so. Hamburg, if you want us to go sub-eight, you have to do something about the long transitions!”
4 – Lisa Tertsch: World Triathlon Championship Series Final
Date: Sunday, October 19, 2025
Reason for inclusion: Unfancied Tertsch races to shock WTCS title win
Germany’s Lisa Tertsch claimed a remarkable victory in the WTCS Grand Final to snatch the world title in the process as the two big favourites, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and Beth Potter (GBR), crashed and burned on the run.
The Wollongong finale had been billed as a showdown between Olympic and reigning world champion Beaugrand and the 2023 champion Potter – and for a huge chunk of the race, that was exactly how it played out.
But in hot and windy conditions, Beaugrand was suddenly treading water early on the run, and then midway through the 10km, Potter too was unable to keep pace with the leaders.
And Tertsch took full advantage on a hilly course which played to her strengths. Soon after the big two went backwards, she knew a top-two finish would be good enough for the title, but she wasn’t content with that and kicked clear from Bianca Seregni (ITA) to take the race win as well.
“I’m quite overwhelmed, to be honest,” said Tertsch. “I just focused on what I could do every day (in the build-up), and I was playing around with the points to see what everyone needed, but I never expected it to play out like that. It still feels surreal.”
3 – Kate Waugh: T100 World Triathlon Tour Final – Qatar
Date: Friday, December 12, 2025
Reason for inclusion: Waugh overcomes nerves and stiff competition to seal T100 title
Britain’s Kate Waugh finished the T100 season as she began it – with a victory. And her success in the Grand Final in Qatar gave her the overall crown as she became world champion for the first time.
Beforehand, the title was between Waugh, fellow Brit Lucy Charles-Barclay, and Switzerland’s Julie Derron, and all three were right in contention midway through the run, but Waugh was always a step ahead.
She was brilliant at both transitions, which saw her lead the way, and she held strong on the run, albeit the incredible effort and conditions took their toll as she collapsed straight after the finish line with stomach issues.
Suffering in the build-up to the Qatar final with nerves and anxiety, the Brit athlete showed true guts and determination to secure the win she needed.
“I guess I did it. I got the job done… but it wasn’t pretty,” she said. “I was really doubting myself before the race. I was giving it all the talk on the outside, but inside, I was terrified. I think I even had a little cry before the start of the race because I was just so nervous.
“Everyone was just telling me to stay composed and to stay chilled, but nothing was really working because I only slept three hours last night.
“I knew today that it was going to take absolutely everything, and it quite literally did. I have never thrown up over the finish line before. I am slightly mortified and do not want to see any of those photos.”
2 – Solveig Løvseth: IRONMAN World Championship
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025.
Reason for inclusion: Shock debut World Championship win in tough conditions.
Norway’s Solveig Løvseth won one of the most dramatic IRONMAN World Championships of all time in Kona as first Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) and then Taylor Knibb (USA), who had between them bossed much of the race, suffered meltdowns in what were brutal conditions.
Løvseth was following in the footsteps of compatriot Casper Stornes, who led home a Norwegian clean sweep in the men’s IMWC in Nice last month – but this was her Kona debut, and she had only competed in her first full-distance race earlier in the season.
But the rookie powered past her stricken rivals as they fell in the later stages of the run, and she then held off a dramatic surge of speed from Britain’s Kat Matthews to eventually cross the line with only 35 seconds between them.
Laura Philipp (GER), who beat Matthews to the IMWC title in Nice last year, rounded out the podium in third, nine minutes back.
“It has been hard to wrap my head around it,” said Løvseth after her victory. “I didn’t have the best swim, but I felt like I kept my calm. Out of the bike, I felt really good and couldn’t really believe it when I started the run.
“But the run was really hard from the start. I genuinely didn’t know if I was going to be able to get to the finish line. I started to feel a bit better about halfway, which is unbelievable, because I really didn’t expect that.
“I feel really sorry for both Taylor and Lucy. It was not the way I wanted to pass them. I actually saw both of them stop right in front of me, and obviously, it’s heartbreaking to see someone pull out that way. But at the same time, you’re thinking, ‘I’m in the lead now’.
“For the first time, I realised I can win this if everything goes right. And then my thought was just like, ‘Don’t be the next one to be sitting on the side of the road’. I tried to control myself a bit more. I was thinking, ‘Don’t be stupid… don’t try to run fast in the last few Ks and then blow up and throw away everything.”
1 – Lucy Charles-Barclay: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025
Reason for inclusion: Incredible bounce back from LCB after agony of IMWC DNF
Lucy Charles-Barclay produced a magnificent performance – and comeback – to win a second IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in dominant style in Marbella.
The British superstar was bouncing back from a blow-up midway through the run at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona just four weeks previously – and she put in a display of skill, grit and sheer determination to exorcise the ghost of Kona at the very first attempt.
That day, she had been part of an epic duel up front with American Taylor Knibb, only for both of them to be undone by the heat and humidity in Hawaii – and there were serious doubts as to whether either of them would have recovered in time to line up in southern Spain.
But not only did they make the start line, they then proceeded to boss the race in a similar style – but thankfully this time without the late heartbreak.
Charles-Barclay led out of the swim, with Knibb her closest challenger. The positions were flipped on the bike, and then on the run, LCB moved back into the lead after 7km and was never threatened after that, as Knibb had to settle for second rather than claim what would have been a record-breaking fourth successive 70.3 Worlds title.
“I started pretty well in the swim. I saw I had a decent gap, so I was like, ‘Okay, I think the day is pretty much going to plan’. But the day got off to a fantastic start in Kona, and it didn’t end how I thought it would!
“So I didn’t get carried away – I was saying to myself, ‘Just keep your cool and do what you need to do and get onto the bike.
“Obviously, I had company with Taylor out there, and I know how phenomenal she is on the bike, so I thought as long as I could kind of stay with her, it could be my ticket to the win today.
“She came past me on the first climb, and we were definitely pushing some big girl watts out there today – I think it might be a power PB for me over 90K.
“And I felt super strong on that run, so I couldn’t be more happy with how the day panned out.”
