Is it Kristian Blummenfelt’s turn to win an Ironman 70.3 World Championship?

Just as they were at the Ironman World Championship, Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden arrive here in St. George for this weekend’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship as the prohibitive favourites, even though both are bouncing back after a win (Iden) and third-place finish (Blummenfelt) in Kona just three weeks ago.

At yesterday’s press conference, Blummenfelt (pictured above, left, with Eric Lagerstrom at yesterday’s press conference) joked that since his training partner and friend “took his long-distance title” that maybe it was only right that he get to win his first 70.3 world championship. While Iden is the two-time defending champion, Blummenfelt has yet to finish on the podium at the 70.3 worlds – his best finish was fourth in Nice in 2019.

While Iden says he feels like he’s somewhat physically recovered from his big day in Kona, emotionally he’s still feeling a bit flat.

“There was a big emotional impact,” he said at the press conference yesterday. “For me, everything went into Kona. I still feel empty, in a way. I am not going into this race feeling like my career is dependent on doing well at this race. It’s hard to go into this race hungry, but I’ll do my best to perform.”

Related: Pro women set for a big day at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship

It is a tribute to just how much the two Norwegians have come to dominate the long-distance landscape over the last year that they arrive in St. George as favourites – they were the only two men who finished in the top seven in Kona who are racing here in St. George. (Others competing this weekend who finished in the top-10 on the Big Island include Magnus Ditlev, eighth and Clement Mignon, who was ninth.)What’s even crazier about the two Norwegians race plans? They look to bounce back from this race and turn their focus to Olympic qualifying at World Triathlon events for the rest of the season, including the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi next month.

It’s not as though the two Norwegians will have an easy go of taking the title this weekend.-The strong men’s field includes last year’s runner up, Sam Long, 2021 fourth-place finisher Miki Taagholt and last year’s fifth-place finisher, Canada’s own Jackson Laundry. Others in attendance at yesterday’s presser included German Frederic Funk, fresh off a bronze-medal performance at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships in August, and American Eric Lagerstrom, who is coming off a huge win at Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz.

If a fast-moving swim group gets clear and sets up a strong enough lead group, look for the likes of France’s Denis Chevrot and Aussie Aaron Royle to be in the mix for a big day here in St. George, too. Thanks to a new run course that’s not as hilly, the race won’t be quite as much of a strength-fest (remember, I did say “quite as much”) as previous years, which could help those will less long-distance experience and more speed-based backgrounds. That could be good news for Ben Kanute, too, but he’ll have to pull out an incredible run if he’s going to stay with the speedsters lining up on Saturday.

Related: How to watch the Ironman 70.3 World Championship St. George

Suffice it to say that all eyes will be on the Norwegians on Saturday, but they’ll have to be on their game to take the title. Which will make for a fun day of racing.

Triathlon Magazine is here in St. George to cover the event. You can check our Instagram and Twitter accounts for race day updates, and the website for race recaps right after the pro athletes finish each day.

Here’s a list of the pro men registered for Saturday’s race:

COUNTRY REP
1	Iden	Gustav	NOR
2	Long	Sam	USA
4	Taagholt	Miki	DNK
5	Laundry	Jackson	CAN
6	Kanute	Ben	USA
7	Lagerstrom	Eric	USA
8	Ditlev	Magnus	DNK
10	Azevedo	Filipe	PRT
11	Blummenfelt	Kristian	NOR
15	Von Berg	Rudy	USA
16	Hanson	Matthew	USA
18	Chevrot	Denis	FRA
19	Funk	Frederic	DEU
21	West	Jason	USA
23	Smith	Kyle	NZL
24	Mignon	Clement	FRA
28	Royle	Aaron	AUS
29	Bendix Madsen	Thor	DNK
31	Noodt	Mika	DEU
33	Keulen	Youri	NLD
34	Petersen	Mathias	DNK
35	Stratmann	Jan	DEU
36	Foley	Trevor	USA
37	Mann	Nicolas	DEU
38	Magnien	Dylan	FRA
39	Zepuntke	Ruben	DEU
40	Costes	Antony	FRA
41	McMahon	Brent	CAN
42	Ceccarelli	Mattia	ITA
43	Toldi	Fernando	BRA
44	Viain	Simon	FRA
45	Free	Nicholas	AUS
46	STOJANOVIĆ	Ognjen	SRB
47	Montraveta Moya	Jordi	ESP
48	Ulloa	Martin	CHL
49	Teagle	James	GBR
51	Chase	Nicholas	USA
52	Jarrige	Yvan	FRA
53	Baelde	Sybren	BEL
54	Steenberg	Scott	DNK
55	Horseau	Arthur	FRA
56	Reuter	Fabian	DEU
57	Dubrick	Marc	USA
58	Rodriguez Hernandez	Tomas Andres	MEX
59	Sosinski	Jack	AUS
60	Trewhela	Vicente	CHL
61	Saez	Nicolas	CHL
63	Stornes	Casper	NOR
64	de Keyser	Christophe	BEL