News

Original Report from Ironman.com

American Olympian Taylor Knibb captured her second VinFast IRONMAN® 70.3® World Championship title in Lahti, Finland, on Saturday. After exiting the ROKA swim course in the top 3, Knibb quickly gained the lead on the FULGAZ bike course and never looked back. Putting in a dominating performance, Knibb successfully defended her title as World Champion and did so with a new IRONMAN 70.3 best time of 3:53:02, beating out the previous best time of 3:53:03 set by Germany’s Laura Phillip in 2022.

On the shores of Lake Vesijärvi in Lahti, Finland today, triathlon fans worldwide got to witness the return of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship to European soil. Female professionals and age-groupers alike took to the waters of Teivaa Harbour, ready to test themselves not only against the world’s best, but the region’s beautiful swim, bike, and run courses.

Taylor Knibb took off out of Teivaa Harbour, with a group of about six others forming behind her in a lead pack. Lucy Buckingham (GBR) took over the lead about a third of the way into the 1.93 km (1.2-mile) ROKA swim course in Lake Vesijärvi, with Knibb staying hot on her feet. Brazil’s Pamela Oliveria was in the mix at the front of the swim as well.

Behind the lead pack of about seven, many of the pre-race favorites all formed the chase pack: Holly Lawrence (GBR), Kat Matthews (GBR), Paula Findlay (CAN), Daniela Ryf, Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR), and Laura Phillip. Lawrence swam aggressively, trying to bridge the gap to the lead swimmers, but they remained up front.

Buckingham was out of the water first in 24:43, with Knibb and Oliviera close behind her, just two seconds back. The second pack exited the water a minute and a half back, including Lawrence, Salthouse (AUS), Matthews, Ryf, Pallant Browne, Findlay, and Tamara Jewett (CAN).

After a lightning-fast transition, Knibb surged to the front almost immediately in her newly confident TT bike position. She continued to put on a show on the rolling, rural bike course taking in Lahti’s pastoral countryside. Imogen Simmonds surprised with her aggressive move to the front and ability to hold second for much of the bike course. Ryf, Findlay, Matthews, and Pallant-Browne stayed together as a chase pack, but all began to lose time to the hard-charging Knibb as the 90 km (56 mile) bike course unfolded.

Simmonds held her own, but it was Knibb at the front of the race all day long. The chasers’ gap only increased as the kilometers clicked by, to well over three minutes at the end of the bike. As Knibb began to repeat just what she did in St. George last year, fans began to wonder how large her buffer would be this year.

Knibb jumped off the bike with a split of 2:07:52, with Simmonds 2:09 back and Matthews, Pallant Browne, Ryf and Findlay rolling in at just over 5 minutes back.

Knibb made short work of T2 and was off in under 40 seconds—almost 30 seconds faster than Simmonds, next in line. She demolished the first 5 kilometers of the two-loop, 21.1 km (13.1-mile) HOKA run course in under 19 minutes, setting a blistering pace from the get-go. Her run form was spot-on, despite having struggled with a foot injury late last year.

With only Matthews and Pallant-Browne running in Knibb’s ballpark, the two Brits battled it out for third. Matthews held her own and then, with her strong, consistent pace, was able to overtake Simmonds late in the run for second.

Knibb surely knew the crown was hers long before she turned towards the famous Salpausselka Ski Jumps. The final taste of victory was sweeter though as she entered the finish chute knowing a repeat title was hers. On the heels of a 1:18 half marathon split, Knibb finished with an impressive 3:53:02 (her fastest IRONMAN 70.3 finish time yet) and heaps of pride on a day that rewarded her hard work, patience, and determination.

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“It’s a long day, it’s an IRONMAN 70.3 and I’m just grateful to make it to the finish line and grateful to be here,” Knibb said at the finish line. “Some people were questioning my decision to race, but racing excites me and I’m just happy to be here.”

“I had a really good day. They don’t come always,” said Kat Matthews. “I’m a little disappointed that Taylor just ‘ticked off’ this race. I’m excited to see what she does next! I had full focus on this race, but all I’m thinking about now is [IRONMAN World Championship] Kona next month.”

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Meanwhile, Becky Woods was in action in the Age Group race, taking 2nd place in her category and an impressive 42nd overall in the Women’s race (Pro Women included). Finishing 7th Age Grouper overall, her performance would have ranked her 36th in the Pro field.