Rewind: Images From 2022 IM World Championships Day 1
The first IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii in three years delivered in spades on Day 1. The female professionals took top billing for the first time and, by all accounts, produced one of the best races in recent times, topped by Kona rookie Chelsea Sodaro taking the victory.
All photos: Aaron Palaian
The calm before the storm of 2,000 plus athletes thundering their way through 140.6 miles of racing.
The frenzy of the professional swim start.
Although the water looked calm, a strong outbound current and chop further out helped make for slower swim times this year.
Lucy Charles-Barclay went to the front from the opening cannon and stayed there for the first 37 miles of the race.
Many women, including Lisa Norden, opted to eschew the integrated visor on their helmets and ride with regular sunglasses instead.
Chelsea Sodaro and Skye Moench rode together (legally!) for many hours on Thursday.
Anne Haug fought hard on the bike to stay with Daniela Ryf for as long as possible.
Ryf, who came out of the water almost 7 minutes behind Charles-Barclay, pedaled hard for the entirety of the ride, including her patented move following the turnaround in Hawi.
Sodaro, meanwhile, made a surge in the last 20 miles of the bike and would eventually come into transition alongside Norden.
Time to put the bike away and unleash a 2:51 marathon to win this race.
The always dangerous Anne Haug could not match the blistering pace of Sodaro, nor could she ever find the gear to pass Charles-Barclay.
With heat indices approaching 100 degrees and with fewer run aid stations due to a lack of volunteers, pros resorted to every trick in the book to stay cool.
Some, like Ryf, took even more extreme measures.
Fan favorite Heather Jackson was never in contention, but she ran 3:16:51 to take 16th place.
This is what winning in your Kona debut looks and feels like.
Charles-Barclay reveled in her second place finish, given her career-threatening injury earlier this year.
Third place is still worth a big smile and two thumbs up.
A two-day race format means an even longer goodbye to Kona for the soon retiring Mike Reilly.
