Facts and figures: history is made at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship

It was quite a weekend in St. George for the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The largest individual female and male fields were on hand at the event held in the picturesque city in southern Utah for the second year in a row. In addition to those two events, St. George also hosted the Ironman World Championship last May, becoming the first location outside of Hawaii to host the event. In all, the Greater Zion region hosted three Ironman-branded world championship events in the past 13 months.

Related: The day in words and pictures – recapping the men’s race at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship

Courtesy of Ironman, below are some of the significant moments at this year’s 70.3 championship event, which was held over two days with the women racing on Friday, Oct. 28 and the men racing on Saturday, Oct. 29.

• At age 24, Taylor Knibb (pictured above) was the youngest professional female racing on Friday and became the youngest female ever to win the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. She is also the first American woman to win the Ironman 70.3 World Championship since 2008 when Joanna Zeiger won the crown and just the second American female ever
• This is the first time ever that Americans have won both the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championship in the same year, with Knibb winning the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and Chelsea Sodaro winning the 2022 Ironman World Championship

• Claiming his first Ironman 70.3 World Championship title with a time of 3:37:14, Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) is now the first triathlete to ever win a WTCS World Title, Olympic Gold Medal, Ironman 70.3 World Championship, and Ironman World Championship
  • Blummenfelt also became just the second male to win an Ironman World Championship, Ironman 70.3 World Championship, and Olympic gold medal, a feat previously only ever done by Jan Frodeno (DEU)
• Norwegian’s Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt have now won the male professional division in the last three Ironman 70.3 World Championship events (2019 – Iden; 2021 – Iden; 2022 –Blummenfelt) and last two Ironman World Championship events (2021 – Blummenfelt; 2022 –Iden)
• With a two-day event, one for the females and one for the males, nearly 5,500 athletes in total checked in to compete at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, the most ever for the event
  • This was also the largest female athlete field (over 1,900) to compete at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

Related: The women’s pro race at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in words and pictures

• St. George and Greater Zion, the true Land of Endurance, have now hosted three Ironman-branded World Championship events in past 13 months
  • The 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship will resume the event’s “global rotation” following the pandemic, with the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship set to take place in Lahti, Finland on August 26 and 27 and the 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championship taking place in Taupō, New Zealand on December 14 and 15, 2024.
• With representation from over 104 countries, regions, and territories, this was one of the most international athlete fields in IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship history
• Zeinab Rezaie made history in becoming the first Afghan woman to race and finish the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Zeinab was the final finisher of the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, completing the race in a time of 08:28:57, giving her just over a minute to spare before the final cut off
• Michel Rolland (FRA) (81-years old) and Ted Ward (GBR) (18-years old) were the oldest and youngest male finishers of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
• Linda Ashmore (GBR) was the oldest female participant at 76, and Arina Niyaki (ZAF) at 19 was the youngest female to finish the Ironman 70.3 World Championship
• More than 4,000 volunteers helped make the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championship a great two days for athletes and spectators