Alistair Brownlee announces his first Ironman of the season

Alistair Brownlee has announced that he will be racing the Ironman African Championship on 5 March.

The announcement will be welcomed news for fans of double Olympic champion Brownlee, who sadly had to sit out the majority of the 2022 season due to injury.

The early-season event is a great opener for pro athletes as it offers both men’s and women’s qualifying slots to this year’s world champs; the men racing in Nice on 10 September and the women in Kona, Hawaii, on 14 October.

Who is racing the 2023 men’s Ironman African Championship?

This will be Brownlee’s first attempt at the full distance over the Nelson Mandela Bay course. He last raced there in 2018 at the 70.3 Worlds, where he finished second to Jan Frodeno.

Joining Brownlee on the 2023 pro men’s start line will be Leon Chevalier (FRA), Clément Mignon (FRA), Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) and pro cyclist, Cameron Wurf (AUS).

In the absence of defending champion, Kyle Buckingham (RSA), fellow South Africans Bradley Weiss (RSA) and Matt Trautman (RSA), who took second and third places, respectively, last year, will be eyeing up a home win this year.

Who is racing the 2023 women’s Ironman African Championship?

Defending champion Daniela Bleymehl (GER) is a DNS but all eyes will be on her compatriot Laura Philipp, who last year set the world’s fastest women’s Ironman time of 8:18:20 at the European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany.

Chasing her for the crown in South Africa will be home favourite Magda Nieuwoudt, who podiumed at the event last year. The women’s field will also feature GB’s Fenella Langridge, who will be hoping to return the title to the UK following wins by both Lucy Charles-Barclay (2018; 2019) and Ruth Astle (2021).

Other athletes to lookout for are Giorgia Priarone (ITA), Jade Roberts (RSA), Penny Slater (AUS) and Laura Zimmermann (GER).

How much can athletes win at the Ironman African Championship?

The professional men and women’s field will be racing for a piece of the $150,000 USD total professional prize.

What’s the Ironman African Championship course?

Athletes will take on a 3.8km swim at Hobie Beach, followed by a 180.2km bike on arguably one of the most spectacular bike courses on the Ironman world circuit. The 42.2km run will take athletes along the beach fronts of Summerstrand and Humewood to Flat Rocks before heading down the magic red carpet to the finish line.

• How to qualify for Kona

Top image credit: Donald Miralle/Getty Images for Ironman

Liz Barrett 220 Deputy Editor

About

220 deputy editor Liz Barrett started work on the magazine in 2007 as staff writer. Since then, she’s reported live from almost every major triathlon across the globe, including the Ironman World Championships, 70.3 Worlds, six ITU Worlds, Challenge Roth, the 2014 and 2022 Commonwealths, the London and Paris Olympics and the Rio Paralympics, to name but a few. Name a pro and chances are she’ll have interviewed them, so, unsurprisingly, she’s our go-to pro-athlete expert on the team. When not covering races, you’ll find her whipping words into finely-crafted shape for both the magazine and website.