Originally published at: Laura Philipp wins IM World Championship - Slowtwitch News
For the first time since 2013, the IRONMAN World Championship Women’s Race did not include either Daniela Ryf or Anne Haug on the podium. Ryf retired from the sport earlier this season. Haug, who had been on every World Championship podium since 2018, had a mechanical shortly after coming out of T1 today. That, unfortunately, ended her day early. Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay was forced to pull out of the race on Saturday with a grade 1c muscle strain. With some big names taken out of the race, opportunity came knocking for the other top contenders. Germany’s Laura Philipp and Great Britain’s Kat Matthews took control of the race on the bike. They created a gap on the rest of the field and took turns at the front. They changed positions multiple times in the last few kilometers and came into T2 together. Matthews set a furious pace through transition, with Philip closely following. Matthews got onto the run course first and gapped Philipp by about 100m. Both women set off at a furious pace, that was not going to be sustainable but would eventually separate the two.
Philipp pulled even with Matthews and the two would run stride for stride until the 7 mile mark. At that point, Philipp moved in front and would stay there until the finish line. Philipp is one of the best triathletes on the planet but wins at the biggest races have eluded her until today. Her best previous finish at the IRONMAN World Championship was 3rd last year. She has been 2nd at Challenge Roth and has made the podium at a T100 race. This is a big breakthrough. Matthews had had better run splits than her in their previous three head to head matchups. Today, it was Philipp who ran 2:44:59 to Matthews’ 2:53:06. Philipp won by just over 8 minutes. She broke down her incredible day, “It was really one of those days. It was super tough. I have no idea about my swim time but I think it wasn’t too bad. I saw that I came out with Anne (Haug) so I thought okay this is not too bad. She was my clear favorite for this race course. So I thought okay from now, let’s just push the bike as hard as possible. And I definitely overdid it a little bit but I really wanted to catch the girls in the front and once I caught up with Kat and Marjolaine in the front I couldn’t get rid of them and then it was a bit of cat and mouse with Kat. So something I already got used to over some races in the past. And then yeah coming off the bike with her, yeah, I felt like okay this is going to be tough but, yeah, I just tried to believe that I could actually do it.”
How the Race Unfolded:
Without Lucy Charles-Barclay to push the swim and with wetsuit legal water temperatures, ten women swam within 30 seconds of the lead. Fenella Langridge came out of the water first in 49:13. Marta Sanchez, Rebecca Clarke, Lauren Brandon, Lotte Wilms, Hannah Berry, and Rachel Zilinskas followed closely. Kat Matthews was just 30 seconds behind, group with Marjolaine Pierre and Chelsea Sodaro. India Lee came out 3:04 down. Maja Stage-Nielsen, Anne Haug, Julie Derron, and Laura Philipp came out next about 4 minutes from the lead. Jackie Hering and Alice Alberts were 6 minutes back. Ruth Astle and Penny Slater were more than 7 minutes back. Els Visser was almost 10 minutes down and Danielle Lewis 12.
With a large lead group heading onto the bike together, the neutral support car went with that group. Anne Haug heard a big bang about 200m out of T1 and needed help to fix a puncture. The support car was 5k down the road and Haug waited more than 25 minutes for help to come. By that point, she knew her day was over so she called it. This was a touch way to watch her World Championship podium streak come to an end. She did seem to be in good spirits, having no control over today’s outcome. Pierre was the first to make a big move on the bike. The Frenchwoman lives close to the bike course and built a nearly 3 minute lead. Matthews led the chase group. Zilinkas crashed out of the race and broke her collarbone. Matthews put in a big effort up Col de l’Ecre. Around that point, Philipp had biked through most of the field and was closing in on Matthews. Philipp made the catch and the two began to work together. They reeled in Pierre and continued to put time into the rest of the field. Around 89 miles, Philipp looked like she was going to drop Matthews on the descent. Matthews hung strong and the two would trade leads multiple times in the closing stages of the race.
Matthews and Philipp came into T2 together, with Philipp clocking the fastest bike split of the two in 5:02:25. Matthews set a fast tempo through transition, with Philip right with her. Matthews would get onto the run first, with Philipp 100m back. Pierre came off the bike next and then Sodaro after her. By 5k, Philipp had erased the gap and they were back to running together. At an aid station near the 10k mark, Matthews took two cups from a volunteer and Philipp was left without another volunteer to help her. It was not an intentional move from Matthews. Aid stations are not always ready when the first elite athletes roll through. It seemed to get under Philipp’s skin a bit and she soon after put in a little bit of a surge. That move proved to be enough to decide the race. On paper, Matthews has been the stronger runner but today was going to be Laura Philipp’s day. Philipp broke 2:45 for the marathon on a day where temperatures settled in the seventies (farenheit) with a 60 dew point. She would put 8 minutes on Matthews and comfortably take the win. This is Philipp’s first major victory, having previously been on the podium at several high profile races but never on top step. Matthews hung on for second. Sodaro ran into 3rd. Pierre earned a strong 4th place finish and Nikki Bartlett was 5th.
2024 IRONMAN World Championships – Women’s Top-10
1. Laura Philipp 8:45:15
2. Kat Matthews 8:53:20 (+8:04)
3. Chelsea Sodaro 9:04:38 (+19:23)
4. Marjolaine Pierre 9:09:34 (+24:19)
5. Nikki Bartlett 9:15:47 (+30:31)
6. Marta Sanchez 9:19:08 (+33:53)
7. Penny Slater 9:21:47 (+36:31)
8. Lotte Wilms 9:23:28 (+38:12)
9. Jackie Hering 9:25:09 (+39:53)
10. Hannah Berry 9:32:13 (+46:57)
11. Danielle Lewis 9:33:50 (+48:35)
12. Jeanne Collonge 9:34:42 (+49:26)
13. Maja Stage Nielsen 9:36:34 (+51:19)
14. Merle Brunnee 9:38:58 (+53:43)
15. Gurutze Frades Larralde 9:41:01 (+55:45)
