German Laura Philipp heads women’s elite field of 60 in upcoming Ironman World Championship in Kona

Headlining the women’s blockbuster professional field of 60 triathletes for the upcoming Ironman World Championship in Kona is reigning champion Laura Philipp of Germany.

Philipp’s had a sensational victory at the women’s Ironman World Championship in Nice, France, last year, but she has come up short when the event has been held in Kona with a third and two fourth place finishes.

Philipp has had a perfect season winning every race she’s entered in 2025, including the Ironman Hamburg European Championship triathlon where she set a new women’s fastest time of 8 hours, 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

She will wear the number one bib for the first time when the grueling 140.6-mile race — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run — kicks off on Oct. 11 at the Kailua Bay Pier.

The winner of the championship also receives $125,000 of the $375,000 professional prize purse and 6,000 Ironman Pro Series points.

The pro women’s field features three Ironman World Champions, three Ironman 70.3 World Champions, nine out of the top 10 finishers from the 2024 Ironman World Championship, including the full podium, and the top 19 ranked athletes in this year’s Ironman Pro Series.

The field includes Great Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay, who had a cannon-to-tape victory two years ago, the last time the women raced the World Championship in Kona.

Swimming specialist Charles-Barclay did not make it to the start line in Nice last year due to an injury, but she said she’s the fittest and healthiest she’s felt for some time, with her victories at this year’s Ironman Lanzarote and Ironman 70.3 Eagleman triathlons.

Fellow Brit Kat Matthews was Philipp’s closest challenger that record-setting day in Hamburg, as she was last year in Nice, with a runner-up finish.

Matthews is looking for her first Ironman World Championship, after also placing second when the race was held in St. George, Utah, in 2022 due to the Covid pandemic. Matthews comes to Kona with a strong season of three victories and a second place finish in four Ironman Pro Series races. She is leading the Ironman Pro Series standings by more than 800 points.

Matthews briefly held the best Ironman finish time this year when she took the tape at the 2025 Memorial Hermann Texas North American Championship triathlon in 8:10:34, a time herself and Philipp both went on to surpass a few weeks later in Hamburg.

Chelsea Sodaro, the winner of the 2022 World Championship in Kona, leads the field of Americans. Three years ago she became the first American woman to win the World Championship race since 1996. She also has finished of third place and sixth place in Kona.

Middle-distance conquering American, Taylor Knibb, who secured her third Ironman 70.3 World Championship title on the bounce in Taupō, New Zealand last year, will line up for just her third full Ironman triathlon. Her first attempt was in Kona two years ago, where she incredibly finished fourth, and her second was in April this year where she finished second in Texas behind Matthews.

Past Ironman 70.3 World Champion Holly Lawrence of Great Britain, who claimed the title in 2016, had a Kona-qualifying debut Iroman performance this year, just nine months after the birth of her daughter.

Strong challengers who currently sit within the top 10 in the Ironman Pro Series standings include American Jackie Hering, last year’s Ironman Pro Series runner-up who currently sits fourth in 2025 after winning the Cairns Airport triathlon.

Also watch for rookies Solveig Løvseth of Norway, who currently is second in the Ironman Pro Series standings, and Austria’s Lisa Perterer, who is third overall in the standings. Another title contender set to make her Ironman World Championship debut is Julie Derron of Switzerland.

The race begins with the 2.4-mile swim in the crystal-clear waters of Kailua Bay, followed by a 112-mile bike course renowned for its historic rolling elevation changes, the climb to Hawi, strong crosswinds, and exposed terrain beauty with lava fields on one side and the ocean coastline on the other.

The final leg of the race sees athletes take on the marathon, an out-and-back run that takes athletes past the spirited crowds on Aliʻi Drive, up Palani Road to the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway that leads them to the long-awaited HOST Park at the National Energy Laboratory Hawai`i Authority. Athletes complete their journey to the roar of thousands of spectators as they cross the historic Aliʻi Drive finish line.

Further details of the course can be found here.

Live race day coverage of the women’s 2025 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon will be broadcast for free across multiple platforms for global viewers, including proseries.ironman.com, DAZN, YouTube and Outside TV.

A full list of professional women’s field listed below*:

*Subject to change