The top triathlon performances of 2024

Fans of triathlon were treated to a number of amazing performances this year. From the Olympics to the Ironman worlds in Kona and Nice and so many other races around the globe, pro triathletes showed off on multiple occasions. With so many races week in and week out, we can’t list every great result, but here are the five best performances of 2024.

Taylor Knibb’s continued dominance

American Taylor Knibb is phenomenal. We already knew that coming into 2024, but she proved it again and again with each race she entered. She toed the line in six middle-distance triathlons in 2024. Can you guess how many she won? That’s right, all six, including the Ironman 70.3 worlds in New Zealand and the inaugural T100 world championships in Dubai. She also tacked on an Olympic silver medal with Team USA in the mixed relay in Paris. We couldn’t pick just one of Knibb’s performances from the year, so we’re taking her 2024 season as whole for this list.

Alex Yee storms to gold

Great Britain’s Alex Yee was a heavy favourite going into the Olympic Games in Paris. He was the silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, and with such a strong build to the Paris Games, it was a no-brainer to pick him for the podium once again. Yee is an extraordinary runner, so when he got off the bike and took the lead, it looked like he was in the perfect position to win.

New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde flipped the race on its head, however, as he overtook Yee and built a sizeable lead. Wilde looked poised to take home gold, holding onto a 10-second lead in the last kilometre, but that was when Yee came out of nowhere to blow by the Kiwi. It was a remarkable win from Yee, and most definitely one of the best performances of the year.

Anne Haug crushes Roth

Challenge Roth always delivers quick results, but Germany’s Anne Haug laid down an absolute monster time at the race in July, dropping a world best iron-distance result. She was second out of the water in 52:37, then posted the fastest bike split of the day with a 4:27:58 showing (beating her compatriot Laura Philipp’s second-best bike split by three minutes). She proceeded to run the fastest marathon of the day with a 2:38:52 result, which was almost six minutes faster than the next-quickest run split. She crossed the line in an unbelievable time of 8:02:38.

Lange wins Kona

Coming into 2024, Germany’s Patrick Lange objectively had nothing left to prove to the triathlon world. He was a double Ironman world champion and had set the Kona course record both times he won the race. No matter what he did with the rest of his career, he would have gone down as an all-time great in the sport. Of course, past results are never enough for a competitor like Lange, and he showed up in Kona ready to take yet another world crown. He once again shattered the overall course record, winning by almost eight minutes and crossing the line in 7:35:53, only further solidifying his position as a hall-of-fame triathlete.

Philipp takes Nice

Philipp pieced together a dominant win in Nice at the women’s Ironman worlds. She won the race by eight minutes, dropping the fastest bike and run splits on the day on her way to the world title. She used a 5:02:25 bike to draw even with Great Britain’s Kat Matthews, and the pair rolled into T2 pretty much side by side. The first 10 kilometres of the run was tight, but soon enough, Philipp pulled away from Matthews, charging forward to a blazing 2:44:59 marathon split and the win.