Anne Haug becomes the first German woman to win the Ironman World Championship

Germany is crazy about its Ironman competitors, but despite the fact that the country has a rich history of men’s champions, it wasn’t until yesterday that we saw a women’s champion from Germany. That all changed when Anne Haug ripped through a 2:51 marathon split to capture her first Kona title.

Haug had been injured for most of 2019, suffering a tear in her plantar fascia, then sustaining a stress fracture. On just four weeks of run training, she set a new course record in winning Ironman Copenhagen, then continued her winning streak with a huge win in Kona.

To take the title Haug finished the swim in 54:09, followed that up with a 4:50:18 bike split, then overcame an eight-minute deficit thanks to a 2:51:07 marathon to take the biggest win of her impressive career.

Triathlon Magazine Canada caught up with Haug after yesterday’s press conference: