In a spectacular race for the ages in stunning Kailua-Kona, Solveig Løvseth of Norway was crowned the 2025 IRONMAN World Champion, crossing the line in a time of 8:28:27. Great Britain’s Kat Matthews secured her third second place finish at an IRONMAN World Championship event, with defending champion Laura Philipp (DEU) finishing in third.
In a race of attrition where the famous Hawai’ian heat and humidity took its toll, Løvseth held strong as those ahead of her faltered, with pre-race favorites Taylor Knibb (USA) and Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) falling short and retiring in the latter stages of the marathon.
Løvseth, an IRONMAN World Championship rookie, took home the $125,000 USD winner’s prize money and 6,000 points in the IRONMAN Pro Series.
“It has been hard to wrap my head around it,” said Løvseth after her victory. “I didn’t have the best swim but 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 was trying to keep my calm the whole way. I feel really sorry for both Taylor [Knibb] and Lucy [Charles-Barclay]. It was not the way I wanted to pass them. For the first time, I realized I can win this if everything goes right. The thought started to pop in my head and then when I passed Taylor I realized now that I had a chance, I just needed to not blow up.”
Within the first few minutes of the ROKA swim course, and as a surprise to no one, Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) surged to the front, asserting her trademark dominance in the water. By the halfway mark, she was on record-setting pace, clocking 23:46. With a greater than usual swell on the way back to the pier, Charles-Barclay dropped the pace slightly, coming out of the water first in a time of 49:29.
In another repeat of history from the 2023 edition of the race, Hayley Chura (USA) led a chase pack of 10-15 women. By the time they reached the swim exit, the group had thinned to seven athletes, including Taylor Knibb (USA), Chelsea Sodaro (USA) and Holly Lawrence (GBR). The third pack featured some of the strongest cyclists in the field; Laura Philipp (DEU), Kat Matthews (GBR), Marjolaine Pierré (FRA), and Solveig Løvseth (NOR).
For the first 20km of the ZOOT bike course Charles-Barclay stayed in the lead, with Knibb on her tail followed by Marta Sanchez (ESP) and Lawrence.
Despite a six-minute plus deficit out of the water, the powerhouse chase group featuring Philipp, Løvseth, Sodaro, Hannah Berry (NZL) and Lisa Perterer (AUT) got to work to bridge the gap. It was the eventual winner that made her move early and kept working her way through the pack until she sat in third by mile 40.
At mile 45, disaster struck for the 2022 IRONMAN World Champion, Chelsea Sodaro, who was forced to pull out due to sickness.
By the turnaround in Hawi, Knibb had made up the two minute deficit on Charles-Barclay to allow for a quick stop in special needs to pick up essential race nutrition. However, it wasn’t until another six miles down the road until the American finally made her move to overtake the Brit and lead the IRONMAN World Championship race for the first time ever.
Another blow to Charles-Barclay came shortly after as she received a yellow card for unintentional littering. To minimize the deficit, she surged to get ahead of Knibb and remained cool and collected as she spent one minute in the penalty tent.
As they made their way back to town, Knibb made the most of the advantage she got while Charles-Barclay was in the tent, opening up a minute and a half lead. Behind her, a hungry Løvseth had dropped the chase gap and was bridging the gap to the front.
Behind the leading trio was a pack of eight chasing athletes, more than 14 minutes off the front. The pack featured heavy hitters Philipp and Matthews – two of the fastest runners in the field – as well as IRONMAN World Championship rookie and three-time Olympian Perterer.
Knibb was first back into ROUVY Transition, stopping the clock at 4:31:00 for the ride, almost a minute and a half clear of Charles-Barclay, with Løvseth third. More than 14 minutes behind Knibb off the bike were the chasing pack of Philipp, Matthews, Jocelyn McCauley (USA), Berry, and Perterer.
Knibb held the gap to Charles-Barclay steady through the early stages, before the British athlete began chipping away at the deficit on the out and back section along Ali’i Drive. Charles-Barclay made her move heading up the crowd-lined Palani Hill, taking the lead as they turned left and headed out onto the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway.
Charles-Barclay opened up a slender lead as they headed along the highway, with Knibb hot on her heels. As Charles-Barclay slowed through an aid station around the 12-mile mark, the American moved back into first. The pair ran shoulder-to-shoulder and traded the lead heading to the next aid stations where Charles-Barclay slowed once again, allowing Knibb to surge ahead.
As Knibb pushed on, extending her lead through every mile, the heat took its toll on Charles-Barclay, with the British athlete eventually retiring from the race at the 17-mile mark of the run. Charles-Barclay’s retirement promoted IRONMAN World Championship rookie Løvseth into second, with the Norwegian flying through the later stages of the run, putting pressure on Knibb at the front. With four miles remaining Løvseth had cut Knibb’s lead down to just over two minutes, and then disaster struck for the American. With just over two miles remaining, Knibb slowed to a walk through an aid station, getting much needed fluids on board. Unable to start running again, a heartbreaking moment saw Knibb come to a stop at the side of the highway and forcing hers out of the race.
With just a handful of miles remaining Løvseth suddenly found herself in the lead but the fastest on course was Matthews, who was going to do everything in her power to catch the Norwegian. Matthews clocked the fastest run of the day, setting a new course run best – but ultimately ran out of road and finished just 35 seconds behind Løvseth.
Defending champion Laura Philipp rounded out the podium, ahead of Berry in fourth – who had her best ever result at an IRONMAN World Championship – with debutant Perterer fifth.
Place |
Name (Country) |
Swim |
Bike |
Run |
Total Time |
| 1st | Solveig Løvseth (NOR) | 55:40 | 4:31:53 | 2:55:47 | 8:28:27 |
| 2nd | Kat Matthews (GBR) | 55:43 | 4:40:08 | 2:47:23 | 8:29:02 |
| 3rd | Laura Philipp (DEU) | 55:50 | 4:40:26 | 2:55:53 | 8:37:28 |
| 4th | Hannah Berry (NZL) | 52:02 | 4:44:37 | 3:04:32 | 8:46:25 |
| 5th | Lisa Perterer (AUT) | 55:41 | 4:40:50 | 3:06:03 | 8:48:08 |
Full results for the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon can be found HERE.
