Solveig Løvseth’s last mile in Kona cost her about $1 million, according to her manager

Solveig Løvseth’s collapse in the final mile of the Ironman World Championship cost her around $1 million in lost earnings, according to her manager, Adam Acworth, who set out his estimate in a LinkedIn post reported by TRI247 on 17 October.

The Norwegian, the defending champion, was leading in Kailua-Kona on 10 October when she slowed and sat down on the road with about a mile to go. Taylor Knibb passed her and won. Løvseth got up and finished eighth.

“Money is the least important thing in a moment like this, but purely from a business perspective I found it interesting: that final mile cost Solveig around $1,000,000,” Acworth wrote, according to TRI247.

Three sources of money

His figure has three parts, and only two of them can be checked.

The first is prize money. The professional purse in Kona was $750,000, paid to the top 15 men and women. The winner received $125,000 and eighth place $13,000, according to 220 Triathlon’s breakdown. That is a difference of $112,000.

The second is the Ironman Pro Series, the season-long competition that ended in Kona. Going into the race, Løvseth was in contention for the title. Laura Philipp’s second place in Kona secured it for the German, Ironman said, and with it a $200,000 bonus. Løvseth finished second in the series. TRI247’s published standings show second place is worth $130,000, so she missed out on a further $70,000.

Together those come to $182,000.

The third part, the largest, cannot be verified. “Then there were the sponsor bonuses: payments for becoming World Champion, bonuses for winning the Pro Series overall, and rollover bonuses for becoming World Champion and/or Pro Series Champion,” Acworth wrote. “Altogether, these would have come to around $750,000.” He said he was breaking the figures down “without giving away any confidential information”, and he did not name the sponsors or the contract terms.

Added together, the three parts come to about $932,000, which Acworth rounded to $1 million.

Why sponsors matter more than prize money

The estimate is one manager’s account, and it covers one athlete. But it shows where the money in long-distance triathlon sits for the athletes at the very top. Ironman’s prize money for the world title is fixed and public. Contract bonuses are private, and Acworth’s figures suggest that for a champion they can be worth several times the cheque from the race.

That also means a result on one day can swing a season’s income. Pro Series points are gathered over months, but in 2026 the title, and the largest bonus, were decided by the final race.

Acworth, who founded the Santara Group and in 2022 co-founded Santara Technology with Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden and their then coach Olav Aleksander Bu, said his main concern on the day was her health.

“Having managed her for the last few years, it was heartbreaking to watch, standing next to her mother at the finish line and, most of all, not knowing whether she was going to be OK,” he wrote. “In true world champion style, she got up, covered the final mile over the next 20 minutes, and finished the race.”

After the race Løvseth told supporters she was recovering. She said she did not yet know exactly what had happened but suspected “some sort of overheating”, TRI247 reported.

Acworth also suggested the long-term effect could be positive. Replying to a commenter who said her determination might make her more attractive to sponsors, he wrote: “No I completely agree with you. The upsides longer term I’m sure will be much greater. I’m already seeing it.”