Ironman World Championship: “The best feeling in the world”: Philipp’s triumph day in Nice

Long before the finish, Laura Philipp was celebrated on the famous Promenade des Anglais. She clenched her fists, she enjoyed the last few meters to the greatest triumph of her career with tears of joy, full of emotion and the German flag in her hand. In the confetti shower of Nice The 37-year-old from Heidelberg quickly screamed her joy in disbelief for the new Ironman World Champion and kept shaking her head in disbelief. “I'm just speechless right now,” she said at the finish line: “This is simply the best feeling in the world.”

It was a race in which she delivered after world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay withdrew from the start and fellow favorite Anne Haug suffered a bitter early knockout, leaving her still top-class competitors no chance. “It didn't all go smoothly, I lost a few things like my glasses and so on. But in the end it's all about pushing through when it really hurts. “I managed that today,” she said, announcing a huge World Cup party with everyone who had helped her.

After an irresistible power performance over 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running in 8:45:15 hours, Philipp relegated former and renewed vice world champion Kat Matthews to second place. She was more than eight minutes behind. Third place went to the 2022 Hawaii winner, Chelsea Sodaro, from the USA – almost 20 minutes slower than Philipp.

Haug, after a tire drama, and Charles-Barclay, because of an injury, witnessed a terrific performance by Philipp, who only learned to swim properly at the age of 24 and is now the second German professional triathlete to win the Ironman World Championship title. Haug succeeded in doing so in 2019. A year ago, Philipp made it onto the podium for the first time in Hawaii; only Charles-Barclay and Haug were faster.

The Brit had to cancel her participation less than 24 hours before the start at 7:15 a.m. in the 21-degree warm water on the Côte d'Azur: muscular problems. And then the drama surrounding Haug.

The 41-year-old from Bayreuth was in a chasing group with Philipp Schwamm. Because the temperature had dropped again, the professional women were also allowed to wear wetsuits – always an advantage for the weaker ones in the water. They emerged from the Mediterranean around four minutes after the leaders. Right on target.

The suffering of Anne Haug

Haug, the best runner in the field, ran through the long transition zone to the bag with the equipment for the bike. At almost the same time, she and Philipp got on their time trial bike, which was – like all of them – finely tuned down to the last detail. But then Haug stopped after a hundred meters.

“I don't have a pump anymore, nothing,” she said, completely desperate, and even tried to inflate a silicone tube with her mouth. “I drove over it somewhere, the tire is completely ruined.”

All attempts to repair the defect in the rear wheel were in vain. “It was not repairable,” she said a little later and described exactly what had happened: “I was putting on my shoes, but I couldn't see anything on the road, it was a really nicely swept road and suddenly it went bang. Then the tire exploded,” she said.

The cut was about one centimeter long. Too much to get back on the track with the damaged tire. “After 25 minutes, no mechanic came. I had no other choice. We are simply self-sufficient on the track. But you don't have a new tire with you.”

Hectic second change

Philipp didn't notice Haug's bitter minutes on the side of the road, she was already in catching-up mode. On a long climb she caught up with one rider after the other, from position 13 at the start of the bike race she was in the lead just before halfway through the 90 kilometers. After that it was mainly a duel with Matthews. Philipps responded to the Brit's increase in pace on another climb with a rapid descent, and together they went into the second transition zone.

The German seemed a little hectic there, left a few things behind and ran off a few meters behind Matthews. But just as on the bike, where she was not disconcerted by the loss of a food bottle and had the presence of mind to swerve onto a curb in a bend shortly before the end, she always seemed controlled, calm and focused on her own performance.

After just over ten kilometers, the first of four laps, she pulled away. “Now I have to bring it home,” said her trainer and husband Philipp Seipp around 15 kilometers from the end.

She kept telling herself, “Today is your day, today is your day,” Laura Philipp told ZDF. And she brought it home and to the finish line, where she also received the well-deserved World Cup kiss from Seipp. “Laura brought everything together today,” he praised. “Really cool, I'm super proud of it.”

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240922-930-239941/3