Lucy Charles-Barclay puts on five-star show to win first Ironman World Championship

Lucy Charles-Barclay put four runners-up finishes behind her to finally become the Ironman world champion with a gun-to-tape victory in Hawaii.

The 30-year-old who has finished second in all her previous visits to the Big Island as a professional was in no mood to concede top spot on the podium this time as she held off a charging Anne Haug to set a new course record of 8:24:31 and claim the world title.

It capped a dominating performance reminiscent of her brilliant Ironman 70.3 World Championship win in 2021, as Charles-Barclay set the fastest swim and bike splits on her way to beating Daniela Ryf’s mark from 2018. The Hertfordshire-based triathlete who trained at home in her “pain cave” in the UK leading into the event, also became only the third Brit to win the title following Chrissie Wellington (2007-2009, 2011) and Leanda Cave (2012).

Germany’s Laura Philipp overtook USA’s Taylor Knibb in the closing stages to round out the podium and improve from her 2022 result of fourth, with five-time Ironman world champion Ryf in fifth place in what she said post-race was her final appearance on the Big Island.

Ruth Astle was the best of the rest of the British contingent in a hard-earned 12th, with Laura Siddall in 16th. Fenella Langridge didn’t have the day she hoped for in 30th place, and neither did one of the pre-race favourites, army physio Kat Matthews, who pulled out midway through the bike leg.

What happened in the swim?

With the addition of USA’s Knibb and fellow American debutante and former open water swimmer ace Rachel Zilinskas to the field, there was much anticipation ahead of the 2.4-mile swim to see whether any of the women could keep up with Charles-Barclay.

The Brit – who had stayed in the UK to train ahead of this year’s race – lined up next to the left buoy and was quickly joined by a number of women, all looking to swim on her toes and take advantage of the draft.

Charles-Barclay had little intention of playing ball in her strongest discipline and quickly broke clear, opening a gap to USA’s Lauren Brandon followed by a long line of women as they headed out into the clear waters of Kailua bay.

Charles-Barclay looked relaxed as she even flipped on to her back for a few strokes to see how much advantage she’d gained on her competitors, and continued to extend the lead as they reached the turnaround and headed back towards the pier.

USA’s Hayley Chura took up the chase, but defending champion Sodaro couldn’t stay with the pace of the six-women group behind the leader and dropped further through the field. 

Charles-Barclay reached transition in 49:36, the eighth fastest women’s swim ever in Kona and 82sec back on the course record she set in 2018. It also left her with a 78sec advantage over Chura with Brandon, Kiwi Rebecca Clarke, Netherlands’ Lotte Wilms, Zilinskas and Knibb in the first pack.

Two-time Hawaii podium finisher Sarah Crowley and Brazil’s Pamella Oliveira were next out of the water, before a group containing almost all the favourites including defending champion Chelsea Sodaro, Langridge, Matthews, Sweden’s Olympic 2012 silver medallist Lisa Norden, Haug and Ryf completed the swim more than 4min down. The other pre-race favourite, Germany’s Philipp was 7min behind with work to do on the bike but not out of contention. 

What happened on the bike?

As expected, Charles-Barclay went out hard from the start on the 112-mile time trial, but after taking 30sec longer in transition, Knibb pushed even harder in the opening miles and soon cemented herself in second place.

Through 25 miles, both Charles-Barclay and Knibb – at 90sec back – had put time into the field with the exception of Philipp and Netherlands’ Els Visser who worked hard to reduce the deficit, but with the pair both placed outside the top 20 in the early stages there was a lot of work to do.

While Charles-Barclay and Knibb were setting the pace, behind them there was a huge pace line of women jockeying for position. It also increased the risk for penalties with Wilms and Australian Penny Slater handed 5min stand-downs for drafting.

As they approached the turnaround to Hawi at the midpoint on the bike leg, five-time champion Ryf made the breakaway from the pack as British hope Matthews was moving in the opposite direction, losing several minutes on the field with her day not heading in the direction she planned. Philipp was still making progress having moved from 26th out of the water all the way up to fifth.

Following her debut in 2017, it was Charles-Barclay’s fifth pro outing in Hawaii, and as with her previous visits she was once again leading deep into the bike leg. What was different this time was that despite the surges from behind, the 30-year-old was the fastest cyclist on course.  

Ryf’s resurgence looked to be relatively short-lived as Philipp, Norden and McCauley rode through the Swiss and tried to limit the damage to the front. Knibb, who appeared to be having issues keeping bottles on her bike, picked up a 60sec penalty for unintentional littering. Further adrift, Astle was having a solid ride and moving through the field

Heading back to T2, Charles-Barclay delivered a race-best split of 4:32:29, her fastest ever on the Big Island and a time only bettered by Daniela Ryf in 2018. Having served her penalty, Knibb reached the dismount line just under 4min down, followed by the trio of McCauley, Philipp and Norden, more than 10min off the front.

Ryf came through in sixth with Haug, finishing the bike leg just over 12min adrift. Astle produced a solid split to reach T2 in ninth, but defending champion Sodaro lost a further 18min on the bike to start the marathon in 20th.

What happened on the run?

Charles-Barclay started the run as she finished the bike, with only Haug quicker than the Brit as they headed along Ali’i Drive for the faster out-and-back section of the opening miles.

The Brit was revelling in her role as front runner and looked strong heading up Palani road on the marathon’s major climb. Knibb was hanging tough in second place with Haug overtaking Philipp to make it to a podium position and start to hunt down Charles-Barclay as they approached the desolate Queen K highway.

Heading into the notorious natural energy lab at mile 16, it became Charles-Barclay’s race to lose. This was the spot in 2019 where Haug went past her to take the lead and ultimately become champion. This time Charles-Barclay didn’t look like letting it slip. Haug moved past Knibb and continued to reduce the gap to the front on the return to town, but never made it to within striking distance of Charles-Barclay who could celebrate along the final stretch and revel in a long-awaited Ironman world title.

2023 Ironman World Championship women’s results – top 10

1. Lucy Charles-Barclay, GBR
2. Anne Haug, GER
3. Laura Philipp, GER
4. Taylor Knibb, USA
5. Daniela Ryf, SUI
6. Chelsea Sodaro, USA
7. Skye Moench, USA
8. Sarah True, USA
9. Lisa Norden, SWE
10. Jocelyn McCauley, USA

  Top image credit: Tim Heming