Originally published at: Women, Nice Shine for IM World Championships - Slowtwitch News
Let’s start with the base numbers for a moment. 1,451 women registered for the 2024 IRONMAN World Championships in Nice, representing 65 different countries, regions or territories. And while yes, that represents a nearly 30% drop in the figure between the 2023 Worlds (held in Kona), there are a couple of mitigating factors in play.
First, there’s this year’s qualification cycle. There were only two races in North America in calendar year 2024 that qualified women for Nice — that’d be IRONMAN Texas and IRONMAN Lake Placid. Otherwise, if you were based in the U.S. or Canada and wanted to go Worlds slot hunting, you needed to travel relatively extensively internationally before another international trip for worlds. And then those races in late 2023 that were also available were in conflict with last year’s Kona dates. It made it more difficult to pull women from IRONMAN’s most populous participatory region. Still, just under a third of the field came from the United States. (The combined European region had the most athletes, with 47% of the field.)
And second is the Nice course. In talking with many athletes, the bike course in particular was a daunting challenge. For some, the descents were a more consistent talking point than the climbs. It was not dissimilar from some talk we heard about the 2021 IM Worlds held in May 2022 in St. George. If you can’t train riding downhill, it’s hard to prep for that challenge.
But even when you factor those items in — it’s nearly 1500 women registering for the IRONMAN World Championships. And by any measure, that is a success. It’s precisely why IRONMAN moved to the two-day format beginning in 2022. And it’s also why there’s no going back to a single day format. The spotlight is too bright, and women continue to star under those bright lights.
This year’s professional race in Nice was one of the best I’ve seen in my career covering triathlon. No caveats. From the surprise of a wetsuit legal swim, to the end of Anne Haug’s podium streak in the first 200 meters outside of T1, to the “could she pull this off?” of seeing Marjolaine Pierre on the front of the bike for a long-time, to the stride for stride run through transition for Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews on through the first lap — there was everything you could ask for. Drama. Tears. Joy. A well deserved first championship for Philipp. Live coverage that had few glitches.
And that’s just talking the professional race!
Let’s also give flowers to the various age group champions, representing nine different nations:
F18-24: Yixuan Chen (China) 11:09:00
F25-29: Caterina Mariani (Switzerland) 10:18:25
F30-34: Lea Riccoboni (France) 9:54:07
F35-39: Joanna Soltysiak-Vrebac (Poland) 9:56:33
F40-44: Jana Richtrova (Czech Republic) 10:25:21
F45-49: Laura Jalasto (Finland) 10:21:26
F50-54: Janette Dommer (Denmark) 10:45:06
F55-59: Loubna Freih (Switzerland) 11:32:17
F60-64: Christine Glah (USA) 12:25:05
F65-69: Judy McNary (USA) 13:14:30
F70-74: Missy Lestrange (USA) 15:13:39
Lestrange was also the oldest competitor in this year’s IMWC, at age 72, and is her 19th IRONMAN age group win.
Nice, too, is a worthy venue for a world championship race. The swim throws a wildcard into the mix (will it or won’t it be wetsuit legal) that you never see in Kona. The bike course brings such a different challenge, demanding all-around excellence along with the iconic images on the descents. And the run lap system, more common for European venues, makes for a better spectator and viewing experience.
It’s not perfect. Our industry and athletes alike would prefer for a single venue World Championships. But when given the choice between a single day race, and all the baggage that comes with it (lack of focus on the women’s professional race; the disproportional impact of age group athletes on that pro race; the late start for age group women and subsequent conditions faced on course), and continuing to split into two days into two venues, I know which one I’d take.
Photos: Jan Hetfleisch / Getty Images for IRONMAN (top, middle); Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images for IRONMAN (bottom)