My vote is Patrick Lange then Ditlev. Scale tip towards Patrick due to Kona head to head win over Ditlev.
I THINK we have to factor in that Patrick was optimizing training for IM wins and not 70.3 wins. I don’t think his loss to Lionel in 70.3 Oceanside is indicative of overall 70.3 ability. Patrick was training for IM Texas at the time. You can’t be fast at 70.3 and IM literally in the same two week window (I believe Oceanside was 2 weeks before IM Texas in 2024).
The athletes going for 70.3 or T100 wins can literally go for 5-8 outings where they have a shot. The guys winning Ironmans have to save it for 2 outings a year (maybe). As such Ditlev was pretty awesome and let’s say Lange raced Roth vs Texas and Ditlev beats Lange in Roth and loses to him in Kona but Ditlev performs in all the middle distance races, then i give it to Ditlev. I don’t think any of the middle distance guys factor in. Van Riel could have been a factor if he did not have the mishap in Cozumel, but middle distance dominance without winning a full IM does not really tips the scales towards winning Long Course Athlete of the year …unless you do it slam dunk like Knibb and toy around with the entire field and are on a different planet entirely.
Knibb’s 2025 season could end up being like Mark Allen’s 1989 season if she stays healthy and wins Kona
The other reason to give it to Patrick is the pressure of a multi time Kona champion and rising back up on the day it counts. Dealing with the pressure and overcoming it gets a lot of credit. Most athletes without Kona wins in the bag crater in Kona. Almost everyone of the contenders overbiked in Kona chasing Ditlev and we can aruge that Ditlev himself overcooked his race, but Lange did not!
