It’s been a while, but the US finally has somebody back on the men’s podium in triathlon’s most iconic race – the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
Americans claimed victory in the first 17 editions of Kona for Pro men, but you have to go back all the way to 2002 to find a Statewide winner when Tim DeBoom claimed the second of his consecutive victories.
First US podium this decade
In recent years even podiums have been hard to come by for home stars, with Tim O’Donnell in 2019 the most recent after his brilliant second behind Jan Frodeno.
But on Saturday the drought was ended when the US claimed it’s first men’s podium this decade courtesy of ‘The Bison’ Rudy von Berg. It continued an upwards career progression for von Berg, who had finished fourth behind Sam Laidlow in Nice in 2023.
This time round Rudy came from off the pace on the run after a blistering course record bike leg by Sam Laidlow (3:57:22) had blown the race wide open.
Von Berg finishes strong
With several big names literally falling apart during the closing marathon, von Berg was able to thread his way though the faltering stars to move into a podium spot by passing Frenchman Leon Chevalier for third in the closing stages.
It was a superbly measured race from Rudy in absolutely brutal conditions, and not surprisingly he was elated but exhausted as the dust settled on an epic race.
Writing in a post on his Instagram account, he wrote: “Dream come true finishing on the podium of an Ironman World Championship in Kona with a third place today.
“I’ve been working at this for so long and to get this result is something I’m extremely proud of. I have to thank everyone that has played a role in this, family, girlfriend, friends, agent and sponsors, you all have something to do with it.
“I am very tired so for now I’m just going to enjoy it. More in the next days ? And massive congrats to @patricklange1 and @magnuselbaekditlev for amazing performances.”
