Luis and Knibb Crowned Ironman World Champions in Kona

For the first time since 2019, the professional men and women lined up on the same day in Kailua-Kona on Saturday, October 10. Rain, heavy humidity and a rolling swell greeted them for the 3.8 kilometer swim, 180 kilometer bike and 42.2 kilometer run, and by nightfall two athletes had written new chapters in the history of the Big Island: Vincent Luis of France and Taylor Knibb of the United States.

The men's race

Magnus Ditlev of Denmark looked like the winner for most of the day. He surged to the front on the climb to Hawi, came off the bike first with a lead of about four minutes in the marathon, and held on for roughly two thirds of the run. Then the race turned. Coming out of the Energy Lab his legs gave way, he began to walk, and the gap that had looked safe disappeared within a few miles. He did not finish.

Luis, racing his first Kona and, by his own announcement, the last race of his career, had stayed patient. He came off the bike sixth, more than six minutes back, and ran the field down. He moved into the lead near the 21 mile aid station and crossed the line in 7:47:27, the first Frenchman to win the title in Hawaii and the third world championship of his career, after his two short course world titles in 2019 and 2020.

Gustav Iden of Norway ran the fastest marathon of the day, 2:36:58, after serving a three minute drafting penalty on the bike. He closed to within 40 seconds with five kilometers to go but finished second, 1:35 behind. American Matthew Marquardt took third at 2:31, shaking off a penalty of his own earlier in the day. Iden's run also secured the IRONMAN Pro Series title and the $200,000 bonus that goes with it.

It was a costly day for the favorites. Sam Laidlow withdrew early in the marathon with a circulation problem in his left leg and has confirmed he will undergo surgery. Patrick Lange's final race on the island ended on the bike course, while Trevor Foley and Jamie Riddle also stopped before the run. Reigning champion Casper Stornes had already been ruled out after a crash. In all, 39 men finished.

The women's race

The women's championship ended in the most emotional finish of the day. Defending champion Solveig Løvseth was leading late in the marathon when she collapsed inside the final mile, and Knibb moved into the lead to win in 8:36:29. After crossing the line, Knibb waited to greet Løvseth, who got up and reached the finish in eighth place, to a huge ovation. Løvseth later reassured fans that she was doing okay.

Knibb came off the bike in front and held on through a marathon of 2:57:45. Her victory made her the third woman in history to win the Ironman World Championship and the 70.3 World Championship in the same year, after her title in Nice a few weeks earlier, and the first American woman to win in Kona since Chelsea Sodaro in 2022.

Germany's Laura Philipp produced the recovery of the day. She came out of the water more than eight minutes down and started the marathon in tenth, nearly ten minutes behind Knibb, then ran 2:50:42, the fastest women's marathon of the race, to take second in 8:39:33. That result also made her the 2026 IRONMAN Pro Series champion. Switzerland's Julie Derron finished third on her Kona debut in 8:46:24, despite a three minute drafting penalty, with Britain's Kat Matthews fourth. Lucy Charles-Barclay, who led out of the swim, withdrew. Thirty six professional women finished.

Full results: men

\| 7 | Jonas Schomburg | Germany | 7:56:41 | +9:14 | \| 8 | Kristian Blummenfelt | Norway | 7:58:06 | +10:39 | \| 9 | Youri Keulen | Netherlands | 7:58:25 | +10:58 | \| 10 | Menno Koolhaas | Netherlands | 7:58:54 | +11:27 | \| 11 | Nick Thompson | Australia | 8:01:12 | +13:45 | \| 12 | Cameron Wurf | Australia | 8:04:00 | +16:33 | \| 13 | Mikel Ugarte Ramos | Spain | 8:04:03 | +16:36 | \| 14 | Jon Saeveras Breivold | Norway | 8:06:52 | +19:25 | \| 15 | Jan Stratmann | Germany | 8:07:18 | +19:51 | \| 16 | Kacper Stepniak | Poland | 8:07:31 | +20:04 | \| 17 | Kieran Lindars | Great Britain | 8:08:02 | +20:35 | \| 18 | Jordi Montraveta Moya | Spain | 8:11:51 | +24:24 | \| 19 | Jumpei Furuya | Japan | 8:13:41 | +26:14 | \| 20 | Matt Hanson | USA | 8:16:18 | +28:51 | \| 21 | Damien Le Mesnager | France | 8:16:46 | +29:19 | \| 22 | Michele Sarzilla | Italy | 8:17:04 | +29:37 | \| 23 | Frederic Funk | Germany | 8:17:28 | +30:01 | \| 24 | Brock Hoel | Canada | 8:19:39 | +32:12 | \| 25 | Dominik Sowieja | Germany | 8:22:21 | +34:54 | \| 26 | Cameron Main | Great Britain | 8:27:21 | +39:54 | \| 27 | Ben Kanute | USA | 8:27:53 | +40:26 | \| 28 | Wilhelm Hirsch | Germany | 8:28:16 | +40:49 | \| 29 | Jason West | USA | 8:29:02 | +41:35 | \| 30 | Florian Angert | Germany | 8:29:39 | +42:12 | \| 31 | Almog Elazary | Israel | 8:33:29 | +46:02 | \| 32 | Jack Moody | New Zealand | 8:34:19 | +46:52 | \| 33 | Jack Sosinski | USA | 8:37:16 | +49:49 |

\| 34 | Arnaud Guilloux | France | 8:38:49 | +51:22 | \| 35 | Sebastian Norberg | Sweden | 8:40:33 | +53:06 | \| 36 | Marten Van Riel | Belgium | 8:42:17 | +54:50 | \| 37 | Ben Hill | Australia | 8:48:31 | +1:01:04 | \| 38 | Marius Bjerkeset | Norway | 8:48:46 | +1:01:19 | \| 39 | Antonio Benito | Spain | 8:51:17 | +1:03:50 |

Full results: women

\| 17 | Regan Hollioake | Australia | 9:17:17 | +40:48 | \| 18 | Paula Findlay | Canada | 9:20:00 | +43:31 | \| 19 | Rachel Zilinskas | USA | 9:20:48 | +44:19 | \| 20 | Jana Uderstadt | Germany | 9:21:21 | +44:52 | \| 21 | Jackie Hering | USA | 9:22:29 | +46:00 | \| 22 | Kaidi Kivioja | Estonia | 9:27:37 | +51:08 | \| 23 | Skye Wallace | Australia | 9:29:32 | +53:03 | \| 24 | Charlotte McShane | Australia | 9:32:08 | +55:39 | \| 25 | Kate Curran | Great Britain | 9:35:18 | +58:49 | \| 26 | Leonie Konczalla | Germany | 9:35:32 | +59:03 | \| 27 | Samantha Skold | USA | 9:41:58 | +1:05:29 | \| 28 | Lara Hernandez-Tome | Spain | 9:44:28 | +1:07:59 | \| 29 | Rhianne Hughes | Great Britain | 9:48:28 | +1:11:59 | \| 30 | Nikita Paskiewiez | France | 9:51:45 | +1:15:16 | \| 31 | Arlette Gonzalez | Mexico | 9:52:58 | +1:16:29 | \| 32 | Anna Pabinger | Austria | 9:52:59 | +1:16:30 | \| 33 | Gabrielle Lumkes | USA | 10:01:31 | +1:25:02 | \| 34 | Antonia Milowsky | Germany | 10:10:03 | +1:33:34 | \| 35 | Penny Slater | Australia | 10:12:05 | +1:35:36 | \| 36 | Henrike Güber | Germany | 10:36:13 | +1:59:44 |

Times as published in race day results coverage and subject to final confirmation on the official Ironman results.