2022 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship Podium
KAILUA-KONA, Hawai`i (October 12, 2023) – The women take center stage in the first-ever female-only race at the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona. On Saturday, October 14, the best female professional and amateur triathletes in the world will battle it out in a bid to be crowned 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Champion. Live coverage of the race will air on IRONMAN Live, as well as Live L’Equipe for the French audience, and HR television and Sportschau for the German audience.
Spanning the skies above Kona to the ocean depths of Kailua Bay, extensive live camera coverage will bring viewers inside the pro-race action, beginning with pre-race body marking and extending through the podium presentation.
Past champions of IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events Michael Lovato and Dede Griesbauer will be calling the action from the studio, and course correspondents Matt Lieto and Mirinda Carfrae, the three-time IRONMAN World Champion, will be providing on-course analysis. Additionally, IRONMAN Champion and Hall of Famer Greg Welch will be reporting onsite. The coverage will also include guest appearances and interviews with legends of the sport, such as Mark Allen, Paula Newby-Fraser, Craig Alexander, Michellie Jones, Chrissie Wellington, Natascha Badmann, and the recently crowed IRONMAN World Champion, Sam Laidlow.
A live finish line camera will also mean that viewers will be able to tune in to IRONMAN Now to spot their loved ones and cheer the final finishers over the line remotely.
Key moments from the extensive live coverage will include*:
- 04:30 a.m. – Live pre-race show begins on IRONMAN Now including athlete body marking
- 06:25 a.m. – Race Start – Professional Athletes
- 3:00 p.m. – Estimated finish time for the winner
- Coverage of the professional female podium to follow
- Post-Race analysis following the professional podium ceremony
- Live finish line camera for all the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship age-group finisher
*All times listed HAST
In one of the most stacked female fields ever at the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship, defending IRONMAN World Champion Chelsea Sodaro (USA) will be wearing Bib #1 in a bid for back-to-back titles. The 2022 IRONMAN World Championship runner-up Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) and third-place finisher Anne Haug (DEU) will look to dethrone Sodaro for a chance at their own place in history.
Five-time IRONMAN World Champion, Daniela Ryf (CHE) will look to add to her Kona title count, and in her highly anticipated IRONMAN debut, American Taylor Knibb will also be one to watch. Knibb secured her spot after earning her second IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title at the 2023 IRONMAN® 70.3® World Champion in Lahti, Finland just a couple of months ago.
Other challengers include Kat Matthews (GBR), Laura Philipp (DEU), Sarah True (USA), and Lisa Norden (SWE), among others who all have a chance at the top spot.
“A Fighting Chance”
Follow the @ironmantri social channels for a behind-the-scenes view of what it takes to have a shot at world-title glory. The ‘A Fighting Chance’ IRONMAN series will drop new episodes throughout race week, giving audiences a glimpse into the prep by the top pros, as well as the staging behind this iconic event. Full episodes are also posted to the IRONMAN YouTube page.