The Ironman World Championship on Hawaii will be decided overnight into Sunday, with three Norwegians in the hunt for titles, according to NRK. The race covers a 3.8 km swim, a 180 km bike leg and a 42.2 km marathon, with transition times counted toward the total.
Kristian Blummenfelt, 32, began the closing marathon in sixth place, five minutes and 43 seconds behind Denmark's Magnus Ditlev. Gustav Iden, 30, started the run in ninth, eight minutes and 43 seconds down. Solveig Løvseth, 27, opened her marathon in third, four minutes and 17 seconds behind American Taylor Knibb and one minute and 27 seconds adrift of Britain's Lucy Charles-Barclay in second.
The men's race started at 18:20 Norwegian time, which was 06:20 local time on Hawaii. The women set off ten minutes later.
Why it matters
Norway arrives on the back of a historic championship year. At Nice in September last year, Casper Stornes took gold ahead of Iden and Blummenfelt, giving Norway a clean sweep of the men's podium. A month later, Løvseth secured the women's world title.
Løvseth is now trying to repeat last year's win on Hawaii, which came in her first appearance at the Ironman World Championship, only months after she began racing the full distance. She finished that race in 8 hours, 28 minutes and 27 seconds, 35 seconds ahead of Britain's Kat Matthews.
Blummenfelt has won the sport's biggest titles across several distances, including the Ironman World Championship, but never on Hawaii. Iden has: in 2022 he became the first Norwegian to win the Ironman World Championship on the island, finishing in 7 hours, 40 minutes and 24 seconds, which was a course record at the time.
How the race has unfolded
Blummenfelt came out of the water in 22nd, a little over a minute behind the leader. Iden was 27th after the swim, just over two minutes back.
On the bike, Iden served a three-minute penalty for drafting, a breach of the distance rules. Under the professional rules, riders must generally keep at least 20 metres apart, measured from front wheel to front wheel, and have 45 seconds to complete a pass.
Stornes, last year's world champion, told NRK during the race that Blummenfelt's gap to the front was close to the limit he had suggested the Norwegians could afford before the run. He said they could tolerate being around five to six minutes behind entering the marathon.
"They just have to be patient and save as much as they can for the last hour. Then it's really just about attacking from there," Stornes told NRK.
On Iden's penalty, Stornes said it might be too much to ask him to make it back on the run, at least to win. He said a podium finish was possible.
Sam Laidlow of France started the run in second, 43 seconds behind Ditlev, but had to stop completely to cool down and take in nutrition. American Matthew Marquardt was third, two minutes and 44 seconds back.
Stornes also spoke about Løvseth's approach, noting she was slightly behind last year but raced smartly throughout and held her own pace, which he said was why she won.
What else is at stake
The race also settles the Ironman Pro Series, a season-long points competition. Only an athlete's five best results count, and a maximum of three of those can come from the full distance.
The Norwegians have posted strong results this season. Blummenfelt won Ironman Texas, while Løvseth won in Texas and took European Championship gold in Hamburg. Iden claimed European Championship silver in Frankfurt. In September, Blummenfelt took silver at the half-Ironman world championship, with both Iden and Løvseth finishing fourth.
The world champion receives 125,000 dollars in prize money. The overall Ironman Pro Series winner collects a further 200,000 dollars. Blummenfelt, Iden and Løvseth are all in position to claim that double, though NRK notes that a world title does not guarantee the series win, as the time gaps to rivals will also matter.
Marius Bjerkeset, 28, and Jon Breivold, 31, are also racing in the elite class.
The outcome on Hawaii will be known overnight into Sunday. Watch whether Blummenfelt can close on Ditlev over the marathon, whether Iden can recover from his penalty, and whether Løvseth can defend her title.
