Knibb snatches Kona title in the final mile as Luis wins on debut

Taylor Knibb of the United States won the Ironman World Championship on Saturday, overtaking defending champion Solveig Løvseth of Norway in the final mile of the marathon on the Big Island of Hawaii. France’s Vincent Luis won the men’s race on his first appearance at the championship.

Knibb finished in an unofficial 8 hours 36 minutes 29 seconds. Germany’s Laura Philipp was second, 3 minutes 5 seconds behind, and Switzerland’s Julie Derron took third on her Kona debut despite serving a three-minute drafting penalty. Britain’s Kat Matthews was fourth.

Luis, 37, crossed the line in an unofficial 7:47:27, about a minute and a half ahead of Norway’s Gustav Iden, the 2022 champion, who was slowed by a three-minute penalty for drafting on the bike. Matthew Marquardt of the United States was third.

This was the first time since 2022 that both championship races were held in Kailua-Kona. From 2023 to 2025 the men’s and women’s titles were decided at separate venues, with the race alternating between Kona and Nice, France.

A mirror image of 2025

The women’s race turned on the same stretch of road that decided it a year ago.

Løvseth passed Knibb with just under five miles of the marathon remaining and appeared set to retain her title. With about a mile to go she began to wobble, NBC Sports reported, and she was seated on the pavement when Knibb ran past her with seven-tenths of a mile left.

In 2025 the roles were reversed: Knibb, struggling in the heat, was sitting by the roadside when Løvseth passed her with two miles to go on the way to the title. Knibb did not finish that race.

“I’m stunned,” Knibb told NBC Sports. She said there had been many moments on the course when she wanted to stop, and that she “had to learn from last year.”

Reports from the finish did not give a medical explanation for Løvseth’s difficulties. She recovered to finish eighth, in 9:02:09, according to NBC Sports’ results.

Knibb, 28, becomes the first American to pair an Olympic medal with a Kona title, according to NBC Sports. She won silver in the mixed relay at both the Tokyo and Paris Games, and four weeks ago in Nice she won her fourth Ironman 70.3 world title in a course record.

Luis runs down Ditlev

The men’s race looked to belong to Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev, who started the marathon with a lead of 5 minutes 34 seconds over Luis.

Luis, a two-time world champion over the Olympic distance and a bronze medallist in the mixed relay at the Tokyo Olympics, cut that to 3:31 with 7.7 miles left. Ditlev began intermittently walking, and Luis passed him with just under five miles to go: close to the point where Løvseth would later take the lead in the women’s race. Ditlev did not finish.

Iden finished about a minute and a half behind Luis after spending three minutes in the penalty box, a sanction that TRI247 said ultimately cost him the win. Gregory Barnaby was fourth, France’s Pierre Le Corre fifth and Sam Long of the United States sixth. Tokyo Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt finished eighth.

Luis said afterwards that he had gone through “some dark places” in the final kilometres.

All three of the day’s most significant performers (Knibb, Luis and Iden) built their careers over the Olympic distance before moving up to Ironman.

Times and placings are unofficial until confirmed by Ironman. We will update this report if they change.