Fifth place for Daniela Ryf at Ironman Hawaii

Daniela Ryf reached the finish line in Kailua-Kona after 3.86km swimming, 180.2km cycling and 42.195km running in a time of 8:40:34 hours. For the first time the British Lucy Charles-Barclay won and undercut the course record of Daniela.

After the race, the Solothurn native was particularly satisfied with her running performance: «After a good swim from my point of view, I couldn't pull off what I wanted on the bike.»

She got off the bike a bit broken, she said, but showed a solid run afterwards.

«I would have liked to have made a better placement, but pulled out everything possible due to the difficult preparation,»  Daniela said. She had caught a covid infection in mid-August, which she subsequently struggled with. «I am happy with my performance. Today, it just wasn't possible to do more.»

Next year's World Championships in Nice, where the ten-time world champion hopes to compete once again, will probably be Daniela's last opportunity to equal Natascha Badmann's mark (six Ironman World Championship victories).

For the first time since the inaugural event in 1978, only the women were at the start in Kailua-Kona. The men had held their race for the World Championship title over the Ironman distance in Nice in mid-September. Next year, the men will return to Hawaii, while the women will go the other way.