Angry Bird is the nickname of triathlete Daniela Ryf, like the angry birds that bring down buildings and villains in the video game of the same name. Although Ryf only pulverizes training times and records, there is hardly anyone, say connoisseurs, who manages so well to transform the anger and pain that inevitably descend on you over the long haul into energy. Like a homemade emotional powerhouse.
That’s why the 36-year-old from Solothurn in Switzerland has won the mythical long distance in Hawaii five times, 3.86 kilometers swimming, 180 kilometers cycling and 42.195 kilometers running through ocean, downdrafts and lava fields. However, Ryf shouldn’t hang in too low on Sunday in Roth, the second major gathering point of the scene. 8:08:21 hours, no woman has ever completed a long-distance triathlon faster. And even if it’s difficult to compare times on long-haul routes because routes and weather are often very different: at the end of the day, such brands are extremely fascinating. Just like the new world best time of the Roth winner Magnus Ditlev: 7:24:40 hours, almost two minutes faster than the Frenchman Denis Chevrot three weeks ago in Hamburg.
A year ago, Ryf was only eighth in Hawaii, a disgrace
Ryf’s performance was also special because she had maneuvered herself into a low in recent years. She had split from her trainer Brett Sutton in 2021, an Australian who is not necessarily considered a disciple of the younger generation’s data-based training. Sutton, it is often said, can guess a protégé’s form by seeing him climb a flight of stairs. Ryf then wanted to continue with Sutton’s training apprenticeship, just without his keen eye. The short version: It went pretty wrong. In 2022 she was eighth in Hawaii, a disgrace.
So she rejoined Sutton (who currently lives in China and is supposed to be training the short-distance triathletes there for the 2024 Olympics). Apparently they found each other again very quickly. Sutton, 64, is apparently tempted to show everyone that his eye hasn’t lost any of its sharpness. And at the age of 36, Ryf would like to once again clamp himself at the top of a field that has grown massively in recent years. In this respect, Roth was a welcome stress test, the organizers had drawn together a field that resembled an early decision in Hawaii. In addition to Ryf, only the three currently best runners had registered: the American Chelsea Sodaro (Hawaii winner 2022) and the strong Germans Anne Haug (Hawaii winner 2019) and Laura Philipp (8:18:20 hours a year ago in Hamburg) .
Ryf was now doing what she used to do to shred the competition: when cycling, she seemed to put more distance between herself and the rest with every step. 4:22 hours over 180 kilometers, no woman has ever been faster over a long distance. The best runners started the marathon 15 minutes or more late, and even Haug couldn’t catch up. Second place in 8:21:09 hours was still impressive; Philipp was third (8:25:31), Sodaro resigned. When Ryf dived for the last few meters, the otherwise angry bird smiled: The old world record of Briton Chrissie Wellington, those 8:18:13 hours from 2011 in Roth, was shattered by around ten minutes. She was still missing this brand, said Ryf, “it’s indescribable”.
Tour de France atmosphere in Franconia: Daniela Ryf climbs the Solarer Berg.
(Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa)
And the men? They haven’t slowed down either, and whether that’s due to better wetsuits, bikes and shoes, the tailwind, less Nutella or something else entirely – they didn’t miss out on the good conditions on Sunday in Roth. Ditlev, last year’s winner from Denmark, gained a 12-minute lead over Patrick Lange in swimming and cycling. The Hawaii winner of 2017 and 2018 from Hesse mostly achieved his big victories on the running route, for Roth he had set himself a goal of 2:30 hours in the marathon. Only: Ditlev simply refused to move more than five minutes from his lead. Lange was only briefly annoyed about second place and the four seconds by which he had missed the 7:30 hour mark (“No shame”). He had already arrived in Roth behind Ditlev last year. The victory back then, the 25-year-old recently reported, gave his career a whole new spin: It enabled (and also forced) him to raise a new support team around him, to put everything in the service of professional sports.
It will be exciting to see how triathletes look back on this year, especially this Sunday in Roth. Hawaii is not on the agenda for the men this year, the organizer Ironman is trying out its rotation principle for the first time: This time only the women start in Kona, the men switch to Nice; In 2024 it will be the other way around. Quite a few see it like Ryf, who recently said: “I don’t think it’s intelligent to destroy the myth” – lava fields and downdrafts aren’t that easy to repot. Ironman didn’t hide the motivation: Two locations, that means more starting places for professionals and especially for amateurs and thus: more entry fees.
The race of the Challenge competition in Roth? Vibrated as always, with 300,000 spectators in the finish stadium, along the route, especially on the Solarer Berg, where the cyclists shouted at them like the audience at the Tour de France. For years they have managed in Franconia to appear like a family get-together, like a factory of emotions, as Sebastian Kienle called it, the Hawaii winner of 2014, who finished his last triathlon in the professional trade on Sunday as 14th. All of that is to be surpassed in autumn.