Taylor Knibb Takes Kona Crown After Late Collapse Turns Race Upside Down

Taylor Knibb is an Ironman world champion in Hawaii at last.

The American won the women's Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 8 hours, 36 minutes and 29 seconds for her first Hawaiian Ironman world title The Guardian. An Ironman means a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42.2km marathon run, back to back. She did not lead at every line. She led when it counted.

With a mile left in the marathon, defending champion Solveig Løvseth of Norway led Knibb by more than a minute. Løvseth had taken the lead inside the final 10km of the run after shadowing Knibb for much of the day. Then, close to the finish on Ali'i Drive, she collapsed.

Knibb passed her about one kilometre from the line and ran on to win. Løvseth got back to her feet and finished eighth. Germany's Laura Philipp finished second, three minutes behind Knibb, with Switzerland's Julie Derron third IRONMAN.

For Knibb, it was redemption in the rawest form. She had pulled out of the previous year's race in Kona while leading with only a couple of kilometres left. In that 2025 race she collapsed on the pavement in the final 3.5km while leading, and Løvseth came through to win. Twelve months later, the positions were reversed.

The men's race brought its own late twist. Vincent Luis of France won on his Kona debut at age 37 in 7hr 47min 27sec, ahead of Norway's Gustav Iden in 7:49:03 The Guardian. It was only his third race at the full Ironman distance. Iden, the 2022 Ironman world champion, could not close the gap.

Luis came from short-course racing, the fast and frantic Olympic distance. He won Olympic bronze at Tokyo in the mixed team relay and claimed the 2019 and 2020 world championship series titles. Kona rewards patience. He judged it perfectly.

Kona has seen this kind of heartbreak before. In the 1995 race, Paula Newby-Fraser collapsed within 500m of her seventh win and was passed by Karen Smyers. This time Smyers was at the finish, helping to hold the winner's tape for Knibb.

What makes this stand out is the breathing you could almost hear. Two champions pushed past the edge, one year apart, on the same hot road. Knibb stayed upright this time. That was the difference.