Ironman in Nice – Defending champion Charles-Barclay not at the start after all – Sport

Nice (dpa) – Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay has cancelled her participation less than 24 hours before the start of the Women’s Ironman World Championship in Nice. The reason is a muscle injury. The British professional triathlete described her pain in her leg on Friday morning on social media. Examinations revealed a muscle strain.

“It’s a relatively minor problem, but it could develop into something more serious during the race,” explained Charles-Barclay. After several setbacks, the 31-year-old, who won the title over 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running for the first time in Hawaii last year, will not take this risk.

She wrote that she was announcing her cancellation “with a heavy heart” after she had not planned to start in Nice at the beginning of the year, but then changed her mind.

Great opportunity especially for Haug and Philipp

This means that the top favorite for the first title on the Côte d’Azur will be missing from the start this Sunday at 7:15 a.m. (ZDF live stream from 7:00 a.m./2:10 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. live on ZDF). Last year the men’s World Championship took place in Nice, this year it’s the women’s turn there, and the men’s start in Hawaii in October. Next year there will be a change again.

Due to Charles-Barclay’s failure, the two German co-favorites Anne Haug (41) and Laura Philipp (37) are likely to come into even more focus. Haug has always made it onto the World Championship podium since 2018. In 2019 she won the title, and in 2023 she came second behind Charles-Barclay. Philipp came third in Hawaii a year ago, making it onto the World Championship podium for the first time.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240921-930-239150/1