KAILUA-KONA — German triathlete Patrick Lange was down, but never out.
On Saturday, nearly 2,400 triathletes braved the iconic 140.6-mile (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) 2024 VinFast Men’s Ironman World Championship along the Big Island’s golden coast, and Lange made history in his come-from-behind win in the professional field.
Trailing in 13th place after the bike, the 38-year-old emptied the tank and dominated the marathon portion of the event — racing an incredible 2:37.34 of the final 26.2 miles of the course, averaging under six minutes per mile to catapult himself to the front of the pack.
Lange finished the day in 7 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds — the fastest time in course history by almost five minutes. It was his third World Championship win of his career and first since 2018.
“I always told myself that the best is yet to come,” an emotional Lange said postrace. “Nobody believed in me, but this was the perfect day. Mahalo to everyone.”
Lange dedicated the win to his mother, who died of cancer in 2020.
“When I was running along Ali‘i Drive, it really struck me — I got goosebumps all over my body,” he continued. “It was a moment where I definitely felt her. When I last talked to her when she was in hospice, she told me she wanted me to kick butt one more time.”
France’s Sam Laidlow, last year’s world champion, gave himself a massive lead after swimming in 47:06 and biking in a course record of 3:57:22 — ahead of the pack by five minutes at one point. But the 25-year-old budding star wore himself out by the final leg of the triathlon — running in 3:12:49, which was the 31st-fastest of the professionals. He ended up falling to 18th place with a time of 8:02:01 (would have been the course record as recent as 2017).
Coming in second was the 26-year-old from Denmark, Magnus Ditlev. After securing bronze at the World Championship last year in 8:11:43, he blew that time out of the water in 7:43:39. Ditlev started the day slow after finishing with the 21st-fastest swim (48:18), but made up ground with top-five times in the bike (4:02:52) and run (2:46:10).
“I was almost certain my day was done (when entering the bike),” Ditlev said of his slow start. “But I told myself to run at an easy pace that I knew I could sustain, run out to the turnaround on Ali‘i Drive and see where you are then. Then I saw the gap stabilize, and (competitors) were blowing up all over the place. So I just put one foot in front of the other for the entire run, and found myself close to the podium.
“Probably the toughest race I’ve ever done.”
Top American finisher Rudy Von Berg of Columbus, Ohio, placed third overall in 7:46:00. Failing to secure a top-10 time in the swim and bike, Von Berg dialed in during the run and raced in 2:48:11.
Son of triathlon legend Rodolphe Von Berg, the 31-year-old’s lifelong dream was to be on the podium in Kona.
“I was here when I was five years old, nine years old,” Rudy Von Berg said. “I grew up with Kona in the front of my mind and to be on the podium. Today is surreal…just so many years in the making. I’m really happy with it.”
France’s top finisher, Leon Chevalier, placed fourth in 7:46:54. The 28-year-old star’s top performance was in the bike, where he raced the second-fastest time in 4:01:38. Chevalier moved one place up after earning fifth in 2023.
“Coming in fourth is a bit disappointing, but it’s a performance I can be proud of,” he said.
Rounding out the top five was 29-year-old Menno Koolhaas out of the Netherlands, who had a non-ideal start to race day after being stung by a jellyfish during the swim. Miracuously, Koolhaas still swam the fastest time of the pros in 47:02.
“It was really, really painful,” he said. “My heart was pumping like crazy, and I didn’t have the best start — but at a certain moment, I took the lead. By the time I was on the bike, I was feeling really confident.”
Despite the setback, Koolhaas raced the bike in 4:05:02 and the marathon in 2:50:02 to earn fifth place.
“I think mentally, this was one of my best performances,” he added.
This year’s event was men’s-only for the first time, as Ironman made the decision in 2023 to divide the men’s and women’s fields between Kona and in Nice, France. The women were in France this year.
Hawai‘i County Mayor Mitch Roth saw the day as a monumental success for both the athletes and the West Hawai‘i community.
“I think the day went well in all categories,” Roth told West Hawaii Today. “For business, I think we’ll see a lot of money come into the state, which is really great. When we didn’t host Ironman (in 2020 and 2021), businesses took a big hit, so it’s great to see that businesses are doing well and dollars are circulating on our island.
“People also get to see the best parts of Hawai‘i, which will hopefully inspire people to come back here for the right reasons — such as for the culture and beauty of the islands. We also had a good amount of volunteers, which was great to see.”
To view the results from the professional field, see Page 3B.
Big Island Ironmen
Eleven Big Island residents competed Saturday, making the entire local community proud. All of their times can be found below:
• Kaiden Lieto, 18-24 — 9:58:15
• Laurentiu Grigore, 45-49 — 10:57:55
• Keish Doi, 55-59 — 11:07:52
• Steffen Brocks, 55-59 — 11:28:30
• Daniel Hill, 50-54 — 11:36:33
• Lloyd Gillespie, 45-49 — 12:29:19
• Michael Kemp, 30-34 — 13:23.13
• Ian Hersey, 60-64 — 14:24:17
• Ron Kalich, 55-59 — 14:31:31
• Alexander Hsia, 60-64 — 16:08:13
• Andrew Loeb, 75-79 — Did not finish
See you next year
The top women’s athletes from across the globe will return to Kona for the 2025 VinFast Women’s Ironman World Championship on Oct. 11, 2025. The men will return to France for their championship race day on Sept. 14, 2025.
