Above all, Anne Haug and Laura Philipp had one wish: to eat pizza. “Fat, salty, unhealthy,” emphasized Philipp, but Haug already suspected evil: three years ago she had to resort to frozen food.
The fact that she was unable to repeat her title triumph from 2019 on Thursday in Kailua-Kona neither curbed her appetite nor spoiled the mood of the 39-year-old professional triathlete from Bayreuth. “When you’ve given everything, you’re always satisfied with everything. And a podium finish is always great,” stressed Haug.
Haug is third – Philipp fourth
She was third when the Ironman World Championships returned to Hawaii and thus won a medal in each of her four World Championship participations (1 gold, 3 bronze). Fourth place, more thankless than ever after an unfortunate race with a time penalty, went to Philipp. “Five minutes can be a long time, especially if you think you don’t deserve it,” said the 35-year-old from Heidelberg.
Whether she could have come close to the sensational winner without the penalty on the bike is an open question. The American Chelsea Sodaro shone in her World Championship debut and only her second Ironman and, after already strong performances over the 3.86 kilometers of swimming and 180.2 kilometers of cycling, ran her competitors to the ground over the final 42.2 kilometers. She won in 8:33:46 hours. And that was only about a year and a half after the birth of her daughter, who she welcomed at the finish line. “It’s really hard to come back after a baby year,” said the 33-year-old: “I’m human, I have to deal with all the things like any other woman, even after a pregnancy.”
Second place came – again – Lucy Charles-Barclay, as in 2017, 2018 and 2019. “This second place definitely counts more than the others, it feels like a win,” said the Briton, who in May at missed the catch-up World Championships in St. George due to a stress fracture in his hip. She was a good seven minutes behind Sodaro and was less than a minute ahead of Haug. “It was so painful for my head to see Lucy in front of you but not being able to do anything,” said Haug, who switched to the running track in seventh place.
She completed the marathon in under three hours, but the 2:57:57 hours wasn’t enough, at the finish she collapsed completely exhausted and even needed help to lie down. “I really didn’t feel that crispy,” she then described the feeling on the running track on ZDF. Haug’s problem: After a very good swim, like Philipp’s, she didn’t want to lose contact with five-time world champion and co-favourite Daniela Ryf on the bike and “had to lose so many grains”.
Laura Philipp angry about the time penalty
Ryf then collapsed on the running track, Haug struggled. Also cheered on by three-time world champion Jan Frodeno, who was unable to start in the professional men’s race on Saturday due to an injury and quickly made a name for himself as a passionate volunteer.
Philipp also started a race to catch up. The referee, who gave her the five-minute forced break, said she didn’t want to explain why she had to go into the penalty box on her bike. “I was really angry,” emphasized the woman from Heidelberg, who started as the owner of the Ironman world record. Husband and trainer Philipp Seipp had spoken of a medium-sized disaster.
From tenth place on the bike, Philipp also fought his way forward and, despite the frustration of penalties, was looking forward to being a spectator at the upcoming race of the professional men. For the first time in Ironman history, the World Championship will be held in two races because the two corona-related cancellations in 2020 and 2021 mean that twice as many participants are eligible to start as usual. “Maybe we girls can meet up and watch the men suffer,” she suggested in the press conference with the five best professional women – there will definitely be pizza then.
