There was Texas heartbreak for Austrian triathlete Lisa Perterer this morning as she was forced to pull out of the race, having woken up with a ‘fever and bad cough’.
With so much hype and excitement surrounding the star-studded field of athletes who had assembled, Perterer’s DNS served as a real blow to the women’s field.
The 34-year-old was due to make her first start of the 2026 season at The Woodlands, having taken third place at last year’s race behind Kat Matthews (GBR) and Taylor Knibb (USA).
‘I felt ready to go’
But as her competitors prepared for their deep-water start in Lake Woodlands, she was instead nursing the fever and cough, which had hit her through the night.
She announced her withdrawal via her Instagram page on Saturday morning, a post which immediately garnered support from her fellow competitors.
“No Ironman Texas for me ❌,” she said. “This one hurts – I felt ready to go. Woke up with a fever and a bad cough. 😷 Time to listen to my body. Health comes first.”
Among those to respond was last year’s 70.3 World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay, who wrote: “There is only one Lisa, but there will be many more startlines. Get well soon 🫶🏻”
Threat to the top three
Perterer’s omission meant that the likes of Matthews, Knibb and Solveig Løvseth went into the race knowing that one of their key threats was no longer taking part.
IRONMAN World Champion, Løvseth, added her own support by sending a love heart emoji to the woman who finished fifth at the IRONMAN World Championships, won at Cozumel, and was also runner-up at Lake Placid.
