Charles-Barclay Goes Wire-to-Wire, Wins IM World Championship

Lucy Charles-Barclay led wire-to-wire and set a brand new course record, on way to winning the 2023 IRONMAN World Championship over a fast closing Anne Haug and third placed Laura Philipp.

Charles-Barclay, a multi-time silver medalist at this event, finally was able to break through, leading through the swim and then rode a blistering 4:32:29 bike split, a few minutes off of the bike course record previously set by Daniela Ryf. Charles-Barclay had a more than ten minute lead over any woman not named Taylor Knibb to start the run. Running under three hours, Charles-Barclay’s 8:24:31 lowered the Kona course record previously owned by Daniela Ryf.

Haug set a new run course record en route to her second place finish, running 2:48:23. Philipp also made strong in-roads during the run, passing long-time second place runner Knibb in the final miles for third.

Knibb, making her IRONMAN debut and running her first marathon ever, wound up finishing in fourth place, even managing to overcome a penalty for unintentional littering while on the bike. However, she suffered immensely during the final five miles, with Haug and Philipp passing her during that stretch.

Daniela Ryf, in what is rumored to be her final IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, took fifth place. Defending champion Chelsea Sodaro ran herself from 20th place off the bike all the way to sixth.

Post-race, Charles-Barclay was speechless: “It’s hard to put it into words. It’s been really tough the last couple of years and this has been something I’ve really worked so hard for. I don’t think it’s sunk in whatsoever. I’m just over the moon. All I’ve ever wanted is to win this race. I’ve got what I’ve always wanted.”

Anne Haug was apologetic to Mirinda Carfrae during post-race interviews for taking Carfrae’s run course record. “It was just a fantastic day! On the bike I couldn’t follow the attack by Laura Philipp, and so halfway I was on my own. I had to focus on nutrition and my trainer said ‘fuel up, you can run a really fast marathon.’”

Philipp, meanwhile, described her day as busy. “It’s always a bit tricky in the swim because you really don’t know where you are until you get out of the water. I was a bit disappointed. I saw “oh, damn, I have to do some work on the bike now.” I had to invest a lot. I rode a lot harder than I was planning to. I was thinking the run could turn out a lot slower than expected. On the run I just tried to do my thing. I knew Anne was right behind me. I just kept moving forward. Coming out of the Energy Lab and seeing Taylor was also struggling I thought that maybe there was a chance that I could catch her. It means a lot to make the podium here, I worked really hard for this.”

2023 IRONMAN World Championships – Women’s Top 10

1. Lucy Charles-Barclay 8:24:31
2. Anne Haug 8:27:33 (+3:02)
3. Laura Philipp 8:32:55 (+8:24)
4. Taylor Knibb 8:35:56 (+11:24)
5. Daniela Ryf 8:40:34 (+16:03)
6. Chelsea Sodaro 8:42:25 (+17:54)
7. Skye Moench 8:43:34 (+19:03)
8. Sarah True 8:47:06 (+22:35)
9. Lisa Norden 8:49:36 (+25:04)
10. Jocelyn McCauley 8:50:39 (+26:08)

As the Race Unfolded

The traditional cannon fired, and as expected, Lucy Charles-Barclay immediately shot to the front and looked to open a gap, with the first chase pack including Haley Chura, Lauren Brandon, and Taylor Knibb hoping to minimize the gap. Just behind were Sarah Crowley and Pamella Oliveira, swimming in no woman’s land and being forced to do the work themselves. The second group had Fenella Langridge, Chelsea Sodaro, Sarah True, Kat Matthews, Daniela Ryf, and Anne Haug. Skye Moench, Laura Philipp, and Maja Stage Nielsen sat in group three and sliding.

The chop on the water saw Charles-Barclay as the only woman swimming sub 50 minutes, reaching shore in 49:36. Chura led the first chase group out of the water, 1:40 down. Crowley and Oliveira were next out, another 45 seconds back. The second chase came out 4:25 down, with some of the big riding names in it. Philipp, meanwhile, had her work cut out for her, emerging more than 7 minutes from the leaders but with Moench and Stage Nielsen in the same boat.

Despite taking some additional time in transition to put on sunblock, the early miles of the bike had one story — how quickly Knibb would take up the lead chase position on Charles-Barclay. That answer was fast — easily passing Chura, Rebecca Clarke, and Brandon.

By the first twenty five miles, Knibb held steady 1:40 behind Charles-Barclay. Brandon, Chura, and Clarke rode together, 3:40 back. But further back, a massive chase pack had formed, containing Sarah Crowley, Langridge, Ryf, Matthews, Jocelyn McCauley, Sodaro, Oliveira, Lisa Norden, True, Haug, and more, 5:55 down at the head of that pack. Just behind was Philipp, desperately trying to get back into the pack.

Along the next section of road and Charles-Barclay put time into everyone, extending her lead to over two minutes on Knibb and now 6:20 on the sizable chase pack. The big positive mover, though, was Philipp, who had caught onto the large chase group.

On the way towards the turn to head to Hawi, and the big story was Ryf, who had rocketed away from the chase pack and through all chasers not named Knibb. Charles-Barclay’s lead on Knibb had extended to 2:25. Ryf now sat third, 6:49 down, followed closely by the Brandon / Clarke / Chura trio. Further back, Els Visser showed the difficulty of having to pass such a sizable chase pack, having to work through more than 10 athletes at once to lead that group. McCauley, Wills, and Langridge rounded out the top 10 on the road. But to give perspective, 20th place — Kat Matthews — was part of the group under 10 minutes from the lead.

Over the lower part of the climb to Hawi, and Ryf’s momentum had stalled out a bit. Charles-Barclay and Knibb were matching each other pace wise, but Ryf had lost another 25 seconds to that pair, now over 7 minutes down. And the chase packs had come together — Lisa Norden now lead it, with McCauley, Visser, Philipp, Brandon, Wilms, Clarke, Haug, Kahlefeldt and Chura together. Notably spit backwards were the likes of Sodaro, Langridge, True, Moench, and Matthews.

Charles-Barclay hit the turnaround in Hawi in 2:23:02 (3:15:07 total race time). Knibb had managed to claw 10 seconds back on the climb, 2:15 down. But she also stopped fully at special needs, ensuring she received all three bottles there, as she had lost some of her personal nutrition earlier on the bike — and managed to lose another bottle shortly after that aid station, picking up a one minute penalty for unintentional littering in the process. Ryf was third, but had slowed, 7:45 behind and in sight of the new mini chase of Norden, Philipp, and McCauley. Visser was riding with Anne Haug in 7th and 8th, 10:10 off the lead. The next sizable group was another 20 seconds back, with Wilma, Brandon, Clarke, Kahlefeldt, and Chura together. Skye Moench had moved forwards through the field to 14th, and the big backwards movers were Sodaro, Langridge, and Matthews.

The descent from Hawi lacked the traditional wind that usually creates sizable gaps. Still, Ryf surrendered third place, being passed by Norden, Philipp, and McCauley, with Ryf holding to the back of that group. Haug and Visser had snapped the elastic to the Brandon group, sitting just under 11 minutes from Charles-Barclay’s lead and putting a minute on their pursuers. Sodaro, meanwhile, had surrendered more time, sitting down in 19th place and over 14 minutes off the pace.

Turning back onto the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, the front duo remained unchanged, with Knibb needing to serve her penalty closer to T2 as the tent was still on the outbound leg of the race — the same that happened with Magnus Ditlev with the men’s race the year before. Philipp had taken the lead of the chase, and her efforts on the front had dropped Ryf from the quartet, who was now the last athlete within 10 minutes of the lead, 9:29 behind Charles-Barclay. Haug and Visser still were 7th and 8th, but Moench had made big in-roads, climbing all the way up to 9th and riding faster than anyone on the road. Clarke rounded out the top 10.

With 25 miles left to ride, Charles-Barclay’s lead sat at 3:10. The progress from the Norden / Philipp / McCauley group had halted, ceding over a minute since back on the Highway and now 9:33 down. Ryf had held the deficit to that chasing group to a minute, but that meant she had given up the same amount of time to the front of the race. Moench was still on her charge, and was mere seconds from catching Haug and Visser. Ruth Astle had also pushed her way into the top 10, riding extremely well.

Charles-Barclay continued to power away from the field coming back into town, leading everyone not named Knibb by more than ten minutes after the climb by the airport. Knibb, for her part, was looking to minimize the gap she would have following her one minute penalty, taking 25 seconds back on the ride back into town.

Charles-Barclay finished the bike in 4:32:29, one of the fastest women’s times on the bike ever. Her gap to Knibb, due to Knibb serving her penalty, was 3:47; Knibb had ridden 4:34. McCauley, Philipp, and Norden rode into transition together, 10:46 down, followed by Ryf 26 seconds later. Haug was off the bike in 7th with a 12:14 deficit to the lead. Moench had bridged all the way to 8th, 13:42 back. Astle bumped up to 9th, and Sara Svensk completed the top 10. True, Hannah Berry, Visser, and Clarke were threatening that top 10 placement, though, all around a minute behind Svensk. Defending champion Sodaro sat more than 22 minutes down in 20th place.

In the opening few miles, Charles-Barclay continued to turn the screws, running 30 seconds per mile faster than Knibb and extending her lead to almost five minutes. Philipp had taken charge of third, matching the pace of Charles-Barclary and 6:06 from Knibb in second. Ryf and Haug had charged past Norden and McCauley, respectively. Moench in eighth was outrunning the duo in front of her, Astle kept holding 9th, and True had taken control of 10th place.

Heading back towards Palani Hill and Charles-Barclay continued to extend her lead. Philipp had shrunk her deficit to Knibb to just five minutes. Haug was the fastest woman on the run in fourth, 1:25 back of Philipp. Ryf sat fifth, but was comfortably running faster than Norden and McCauley directly behind. McCauley, in fact, was about to have a challenge for 7th from Moench.

Back onto the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway and Charles-Barclay’s lead was now 5:45. Philipp chased another precious few seconds from Knibb, now under five minutes from second. And good thing, too, as Haug had shifted into another gear, the only woman running below 6:00/mile pace, 42 seconds back of Philipp. Ryf and Norden held position, but Moench had indeed made her move on McCauley to take 7th. Further down the order, True had relieved Astle of 9th place, and if she could hold pace, would soon challenge McCauley for 8th.

Haug blitzed past Philipp shortly before the mile 10 mark, moving into third position and rapidly closing the deficit to Knibb. Other key moves shortly before halfway saw Moench push up to sixth place, and Sodaro had put on the afterburners, charging all the way up to 10th place but still more than 21 minutes down on the lead.

Charles-Barclay entered the Natural Energy Lab with a 5:56 lead on Knibb. Haug’s run had come alive, trimming the deficit to 8:33 and running 27 seconds a mile faster than those in front of her. Philipp was also outrunning Charles-Barclay and Knibb in fourth, 10:03 off. Ryf had a relatively safe margin in fifth of 2:38 over Moench, despite Moench running a few seconds a mile faster. A bit down the order and True was about to take down eighth, with Sodaro not much further behind.

On the exit of the Natural Energy Lab and Haug made her charge past Knibb for second place. Knibb desperately fought the move, and was aided slightly in her defense by one of the media motos tipping over at the tight turnaround, but Haug proved inevitable in her effort, passing just before entering the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway for the final time. That said, though, Haug found herself with more than 7:10 behind Charles-Barclay, who according to her partner was nursing an Achilles issue running, with only 7 miles left to run. The big question mark left was whether Philipp would run out of real estate to pass Knibb, with a 2:19 gap to close while running more than 20 seconds per mile faster than Knibb. Further down, Sodaro had put Norden and True behind her, with an outside chance of closing up to Moench and Ryf.

With just over 4 miles left to run, Charles-Barclay’s lead had been whittled down to 5:44 — losing 30 seconds a mile to Haug, but simply not enough road left to run for Haug to make further progress. Knibb was clinging to third place, holding a 1:58 gap over Philipp, who was running faster but would appear to also be running out of space to make up the gap. Ryf sat fifth, Moench sixth, Sodaro seventh, True passed Norden for eighth, and McCauley was in tenth. Making the turn onto Palani and it was Charles-Barclay’s race, with over a four minute gap on Haug. Knibb, meanwhile, had appeared to hit the wall, losing all but eight seconds of her lead on Philipp.

Charles-Barclay closed out a 2:57:38 marathon, and winning the 2023 IRONMAN World Championship by a margin of 3:02 over Haug.

All Photos: Eric Wynn

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