On’s latest athlete signing, 26-year-old triathlete Gustav Iden smashed the previous IRONMAN World Championship record on the Big Island of Hawaii, crossing the finish line in a time of 7:40:24 and setting a new run record (Swim – 48:23 / Bike – 4:11:06/ Run – 2:36:15).
It was Iden’s second start on the long distance and his first time in Hawaii.
Iden’s victory comes fresh off the start of a partnership with On that not only provides the Norwegian with the latest high-performance products, but also entails a close cooperation in developing the fastest racing shoes and products both for this weekend’s championship in Kona and for the future.
Fans were treated to an exhilarating Hawaii IRONMAN World Championship after three years away when the men started their race on Sunday. Iden swam confidently and exited the water together with a big group. Just one minute and 30 seconds separated the top 20 men as they headed out onto the bike. Here it was Frenchman Sam Laidlow who pulled away from the field, with Iden and his fellow Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt in the chase pack that eventually dwindled down to just the two of them. By the end of the bike portion, however, Iden and Blummenfelt were over six minutes behind Laidlow.
Teammates and friends Iden and Blummenfelt began their run together, on a mission to close the gap. They set a faster pace right from the start and Laidlow was only able to keep them at bay until mile 20 when Iden really began to pick up his pace. The 26-year-old proved to be irresistible on the lava fields of Hawaii and finally caught Laidlow at mile 22. He made a gentlemanly pass, with a pat on the back and a handshake.
In the end, the Norwegian turned onto the final stretch with the confidence of a world champion and crossed the finish line in 7:40:24—almost 10 minutes ahead of Jan Frodeno’s 2019 course record time. With a new run course record under his belt as well (2:36:15), Iden was crowned the 2022 IRONMAN World Championship, adding the victory to his two IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship titles. Laidlow finished second and Blummenfelt completed the podium as third.
“I had a belief that I could win from the start – you always envision yourself doing it as an athlete but actually bringing it to the finish line is another story – today my dream came true.” Iden said after his victory. “The partnership with On gave me extra confidence. When I first met with the On team, I knew it was something special. Such an amazing team of dedicated professionals who all work towards creating the fastest products in the world with a personal touch for each athlete – that is really unique. [On Co-Founder] Olivier [Bernhard] had this sense that winning in Kona with On would be something so special and it really was. It was so emotional to see how many people my victory affected. You really win as a team in Kona and On showed that today as well.”
Iden’s fellow On athletes Matt Hanson (USA), Jesper Svensson (SWE), Josh Amberger (AUS) and Andi Dreitz (GER) and finished in 15th, 21th, 24th and 30th place respectively.
“Our triathlon program aims to support triathletes from very early in their sports careers and to accompany them in their development, from sprint/Olympic distance, half distance to reach long distance in maturity. We are extremely proud to have some of the best athletes in the world in both categories. Gustav is that kind of breakthrough athlete who can alternate competing in both shorter and long distances and, as we have seen today, performing incredibly in every single race, no matter the distance. We could not be more happy to have him on the team, for the great person that he is but also as an inspiration for the next athletes coming on board”, Maria Ortega, On Athlete Partnership Manager Triathlon said.
Two days earlier, the women had their fight for the Kona crown and out of the three On athletes on start, Fenella Langridge (GBR) was the most successful and in contention for victory for stretches of the competition.
The Brit came out of the water in a promising third position, +1:20 behind leader Lucy Charles-Barclay. It then took Langridge less than 10 miles on the bike to push her way to the front. The two traded leads up until the turnaround point of the race, when the On athlete was able to leave her competitor behind until around mile 80 or the race. At the end of the bike distance, however, two athletes had passed Langridge, who then had to fight hard to hold on to her third-place standing off the bike, in the marathon race. In the end, the 30-year-old found herself overtaken by Haug, then Philipp and had to contend herself with the sixth place overall and a total time of 8:56:26 (Swim – 51:42 / Bike – 4:43:25 / Run – 3:16:30).
Fellow On Athletes Kristin Liepold (GER) and Dimity Lee-Duke (AUS) finished 27th and with a DNF respectively.
