Daniela Ryf: “This will be my last Kona”

Five-time Ironman world champion Daniela Ryf bid farewell to competing in Hawaii after a fifth-placed finish in the 2023 Ironman World Championship.

“That was probably my last Kona,” said the 36-year-old, who also saw her course record fall to newly-crowned champion Lucy Charles-Barclay. “I had that in my mind racing and I think I reached my potential here.”

That is without question. Ryf, who won on the Big Island four consecutive times from 2015 to 2018 before adding a fifth Ironman world title in St George, Utah last year, leaves an incredible legacy with Paula Newby-Fraser (eight wins) and Natascha Badmann (six wins) being the only women to have more success in Hawaii.

While Ryf struggled to regain fitness for yesterday’s race following a Covid infection, she is still a force to be reckoned with over the full distance, as shown by a course record-breaking performance at Challenge Roth in June.

Will Daniela Ryf race the 2024 Ironman World Champs in Nice?

She also said there will be one more shot at the Ironman worlds, as the women’s event switches to France for 2024 as the men return to Hawaii.

“For next year I think Nice will be a great one to do,” Ryf added. ”So, still one more world championship. I do believe I will come back to the island but that was my last time racing here.”

Daniela Ryf on new champion, Lucy Charles-Barclay…

Ryf, who also has five Ironman 70.3 world titles to her name, was full of praise for new champion Charles-Barclay, who she beat into second place in 2017 and 2018 in Hawaii.

“I’m really happy for Lucy, she has fought so hard for it for the last five years. I definitely made it hard for her for a long time and then she had two other women [Anne Haug in 2019, and Chelsea Sodaro last year] crushing her dreams, so she deserves it.”

Daniela Ryf on her 2023 Kona performance…

Assessing her own race she said: “I’m happy with the swim, the bike was a bit of a struggle and I blew up after 100km, but I also think Lucy and Taylor [Knibb] rode really strongly so that also was kind of pushing me a bit over my limit.

“I felt pretty bad off the bike but the run was solid. I’m not at the level I want to be yet after my Covid infection and I need a bit more time. I really pushed everything out that was possible today so I have to be happy with it.”

Top image credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for Ironman