Taylor Knibb wins Ironman world title after leader collapses in dramatic Kona finish

American triathlete Taylor Knibb has won her first Hawaiian Ironman world title after one of the most dramatic finishes in race history.

With a mile left, Norwegian defending champion Solveig Løvseth led Knibb by more than a minute and looked rock-solid, having taken the lead from her inside the final 10km of the 42.2km marathon run.

But then Løvseth quickly developed a dramatic case of the wobbles and collapsed. Knibb passed her about a kilometre from the finish and the Norwegian eventually recovered from the meltdown to finish eighth.

It recalled the 1995 race, when Paula Newby-Fraser collapsed within just 500m of her seventh win and was passed by Karen Smyers.

In a twist of history, Smyers helped hold the winner’s tape for Knibb.

Vincent Luis of France won the men’s race aged 37, on his debut. It was just his third Ironman-distance race after Luis won Olympic bronze at Tokyo in the mixed team relay and claimed the 2019 and 2020 world championship series titles.

Grace Thek was the best-placed Australian, rallying in the marathon to finish 10th on her debut at Kona. Nick Thompson finished 11th among the professional men.

Essendon’s David Zaharakis joined a select group of former AFL players to finish Hawaii as an age-group competitor.

Knibb had to pull out of the race a year ago with only a couple of kilometres left, while in the lead.

But on Sunday (AEST), the American showed she had learned her painful lessons, staying composed when Løvseth passed her.

Knibb won the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run event – triathlon’s most famous race – in eight hours, 36 minutes and 29 seconds. Germany’s Laura Philipp was three minutes back in second.

Løvseth was able to walk to the finish, smiling and high-fiving fans. Always a tough race, Hawaii this year was marked by particularly high humidity, and several contenders either did not finish or hit the wall.

“Last year played a huge part because ... I made a big decision and it was just, ‘take care of yourself’, because it was getting really hard,” Knibb said.

“Then when Solveig came back, I thought I can’t fight because if I fight, I’m going to lose, so I had to learn from last year to just get to the finish line, get to the finish line, get to the finish line.”

Luis had said before his Kona debut that he would also retire afterwards. He will now reconsider.

The Frenchman held off hard-charging Norwegian Gustav Iden, the 2022 winner, to claim the world title in 7hr 47min 27sec. Iden finished runner-up in 7:49:03.

“I said if I win, I will maybe not continue, but I went through some dark places in the last 3-4km – but 100% worth it,” Luis said.

“Let’s see, I have a few nights out to decide what to do with my life now.”