Good newsDitlev Rides and Runs to the Fastest Ironman Ever, 7:19:17 in Florida
Magnus Ditlev won Ironman Florida by more than 14 minutes in 7:19:17, a month after fading at the world championship. It beats the previous best by almost two minutes, and Alanis Siffert set a women's course record.
This story runs on the good side only. The biggest stories of the day are told on both sides.
Four weeks after he hit the wall at the Ironman World Championship, Magnus Ditlev went faster than anyone has gone over the full distance. The Dane won Ironman Florida on Saturday 7 November in 7:19:17, a world best for 3.8km of swimming, 180km of cycling and a marathon, Slowtwitch reports. He finished more than 14 minutes clear of the field.
The time takes 1 minute 55 seconds off the fastest Ironman-branded race, Kristian Blummenfelt’s 7:21:12 at Ironman Cozumel. It also beats the 7:21:04 Sam Laidlow ran at Challenge Roth earlier this year, which had been the quickest full-distance time of any brand. Flashscore says this is the third time Ditlev has held the record, and that he lost it this summer. Neither outlet describes an official ratification, since the distance has no single governing record body, so we call it a world best.
How the race was won
The swim was not where it happened. Britain’s Andrew Horsfall-Turner led out of the water in 47:42, and Ditlev followed in 47:52, ten seconds behind the lead. By halfway on the bike he was more than six minutes clear of a group that included Rudy Von Berg and Ben Kanute. He reached the second transition more than 11 minutes ahead of Sam Long, Von Berg and Kanute.
His bike split of 3:51:16 is itself a full-distance best, beating Cameron Wurf’s 3:53:32 from Ironman Texas in 2025, according to Slowtwitch. The marathon, in 2:33:31, was slower than the bike was fast. Ditlev still pushed his lead from over 11 minutes to 14 minutes 8 seconds over Von Berg, who ran 2:37:09 to finish second in 7:33:25.
The top five
| Place | Athlete | Swim | Bike | Run | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Ditlev (DEN) | 47:52 | 3:51:16 | 2:33:31 | 7:19:17 |
| 2 | Rudy Von Berg (USA) | 47:50 | 4:03:18 | 2:37:09 | 7:33:25 |
| 3 | Matt Hanson (USA) | 51:16 | 4:11:20 | 2:28:07 | 7:35:48 |
| 4 | Sam Long (USA) | 51:20 | 3:59:59 | 2:42:45 | 7:38:59 |
| 5 | Justin Metzler (USA) | 47:58 | 4:09:01 | 2:42:44 | 7:45:00 |
Splits from Slowtwitch. Transition times are included in the totals.
Matt Hanson produced the fastest run of the day, a 2:28:07 marathon that moved him from behind Long to third. His time is 16 minutes 31 seconds behind Ditlev’s. Both Von Berg and Ditlev had struggled at the world championship in Kona, where Von Berg pulled out. Florida was a chance for both to answer.
A season turned around
Ditlev led for a long stretch in Kona a month ago before fading. Flashscore says he wrote afterwards on Instagram that the past two years had been hard, marked by illness and disappointing results. The Florida win also secures him a place at next year’s world championship in Hawaii.
In the women’s race, Switzerland’s Alanis Siffert won in 8:07:37, which Slowtwitch says is the fourth-fastest full-distance time ever and a course record. She took 14 minutes 51 seconds off Sky Moench’s 2023 mark of 8:22:28, and she is now the fastest Swiss woman over the distance, ahead of Daniela Ryf’s 8:08:21. Siffert qualified for Kona next October.
Does one fast day change the sport? Course and conditions differ from race to race, and Slowtwitch gives no weather or course detail for Florida, so comparing times across venues is never exact. What the result does show is a rider who can still beat the field by 14 minutes. Next year’s world championship in Hawaii is the next place to test it.
