Ironman competitions are arguably the ultimate test of sporting endurance, and this weekend, the 2026 Ironman Championships return to Hawaii in Kona.
Last year, the all-day event, which comprised a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon, was dominated by Norwegian stars, with debutante Casper Stornes winning in a time of 7:51:36, closely followed by fellow countrymen Gustave Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt in second and third. Solveig Løvseth, meanwhile, took the women’s title to complete a memorable clean sweep for the Nordic nation.
Stornes is unable to defend his crown this weekend, though, following a training crash last month that left him with a broken collarbone and a fracture in his lower back.
Hoping to break up the Norwegian hegemony will be France’s Sam Laidlow, who is widely seen as the favorite for this year’s men’s race, having skipped the recent 70.3 World Championship to focus his season on this week’s race in Kona. Britain’s Kat Matthews is widely being tipped to go one better than her second-place finish last year in the women’s event. This year’s Ironman World Championship marks the return of the event’s traditional format: Both the men and women will race together for the first time since 2019.
The men’s race takes place on Saturday, Oct. m. HST local time in Hawaii. m. m. m. m. AEDT start in Australia on Sunday morning. m. m. m. m. m. AEDT on Sunday.
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