Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay has cancelled her participation less than 24 hours before the start of the Women’s Ironman World Championship in Nice. The reason is a muscle injury. The British professional triathlete described on social media that she felt pain in her leg on Friday morning. Examinations revealed a muscle strain.
It is a relatively minor problem, but it could develop into something much more serious during the race, explained Charles-Barclay. After several setbacks, the 31-year-old, who won the title over 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running for the first time in Hawaii last year, does not want to take this risk.
She wrote that she was announcing her cancellation “with a heavy heart”, after she had not planned to start in Nice at the beginning of the year, but then changed her mind.
Great opportunity especially for Haug and Philipp
This means that the top favorite for the first title on the Côte d’Azur will be missing from the start this Sunday at 7:15 a.m. (ZDF live stream from 7:00 a.m./2:10 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. live on ZDF). Last year the men’s World Championship took place in Nice, this year it’s the women’s turn there, and the men’s start in Hawaii in October. Next year there will be another change.
Due to Charles-Barclay’s failure, the two German co-favorites, Anne Haug (41) and Laura Philipp (37), are likely to come into even more focus. Haug has always made it onto the World Championship podium since 2018. In 2019 she won the title, and in 2023 she came second behind Charles-Barclay. Philipp came third a year ago in Hawaii, making it onto the World Championship podium for the first time.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240921-930-239150/1
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