Kristian Blummenfelt wins Ironman title after Olympic gold; Daniela Ryf’s 5th world title

Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt became the first triathlete to earn an Olympic gold medal and an Ironman world championship in the same year span, rallying to win the latter in St. George, Utah, on Saturday.

The 28-year-old covered a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in an unofficial 7 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds. He is the first man to win an Ironman world title in his world championships debut since Belgian Luc Van Lierde in 1996.

“That was a tough day, brutal course,” Blummenfelt said in a finish-line interview.

Blummenfelt, eighth after the bike leg, easily made up a 4-minute, 23-second deficit on the closing marathon run to win the most prestigious distance triathlon in its first edition outside of Hawaii. Canadian Lionel Sanders was second, 4:46 behind, followed by New Zealand’s Braden Currie.

IRONMAN WORLDS: Results

Blummenfelt took the lead around the 18th mile of the marathon with temperatures in the mid-80s. He ran the marathon in 2:38:01.

In Tokyo, Blummenfelt was in fifth place going into the closing 10km run, making up a 15-second deficit to win the 32-mile race. Four months later, he debuted at the Ironman distance by clocking the fastest time ever for 140.6 miles — 7:21:12 — boosted from a significant swim current in Cozumel, Mexico.

German Jan Frodeno is the only other triathlete to win the Olympics and the Ironman world championships. His Ironman crown came seven years after his Olympic gold medal.

Frodeno, a three-time Ironman world champion, missed St. George due to an Achilles injury. The field lacked other stars: two-time world champion Patrick Lange of Germany (shoulder), Norwegian Gustav Iden, the half Ironman world champion (illness), and Brit Alistair Brownlee, the 2012 and 2016