With Terenzo Bozzone winning three races within three weeks, this seemed to be the perfect time to delve deeper into my data and look at the shortest time spans between multiple wins over half- and full-distance triathlons. I’ve stopped at five wins – with that many wins there is usually one longer gap between wins so it isn’t really “one hot streak” anymore.

To avoid any confusion (3 weekends? 3 weeks?), I’m listing the number of days between the first win and the last win in a series. Therefore, “3 wins in 15 days” corresponds to 3 wins “on 3 consecutive weekends” and “within 2 weeks”.

As always with these statistics, I have to add one word of caution: My Ironman results data go back to 2005 (and the 70.3 data to 2015), so I may have missed some older “winnings streaks”. Any pointers will be much appreciated!

Two Wins

Only IM-distance

• Daniela Ryf: 7 days (July 17th to July 24th 2016) to win Challenge Roth and IM Switzerland
• Paula Newby-Fraser: 13 days (June 28th to July 11th 1992) to win IM Japan and IM Germany
• Lucy Gossage: 13 days (September 10th to September 23rd 2017) to win IM Wales and IM Italy
• Rebecca Preston: 14 days (July 2nd to July 16th 2006) to win IM Austria and IM Switzerland
• Victor Del Corral: 15 days (November 2nd to November 17th 2013) to win IM Florida and IM Arizona

Mixed distances

• Terenzo Bozzone: 6 days (December 4th to December 10th 2016) to win IM Western Australia and 70.3 Bahrain
• Michael Raelert: 7 days (November 9th to November 16th 2014) to win 70.3 Mandurah and 70.3 Ballarat
• Domenico Passuello: 7 days (April 5th to April 12th 2015) to win 70.3 Putrajaya and IM Taiwan
• Eva Wutti: 7 days (June 28th to July 5th 2015) to win IM Austria and 70.3 Norway
• Matt Trautman: 7 days (June 12th to June 19th 2016) to win 70.3 Staffordshire and 70.3 Durban
• Rudi Wild: 7 days (March 12th to March 19th 2017) to win 70.3 Subic Bay and 70.3 Taiwan
• Holly Lawrence: 7 days (May 5th to May 12th 2017) to win 70.3 St. George and 70.3 Santa Rosa
• Melissa Hauschildt: 7 days (November 26th to December 3rd 2017) to win 70.3 Western Sydney and IM Western Australia
• Terenzo Bozzone: 7 days (March 11th to March 18th) to win 70.3 Bariloche and 70.3 Campeche

Three Wins

• Terenzo Bozzone: 15 days (March 3rd to March 18th 2018) to win at IM New Zealand, 70.3 Bariloche and 70.3 Campeche
• Michael Raelert: 21 days (October 26th to November 16th 2014) to win at 70.3 Miami, 70.3 Mandurah and 70.3 Ballarat
• Lucy Charles: 27 days (May 7th to June 3rd 2017) to win Challenge Lisboa, IM Lanzarote and Challenge Samorin
• Daniela Ryf: 28 days (July 27th to August 24th 2014) to win at IM Switzerland, 70.3 Wiesbaden and IM Copenhagen
• Lionel Sanders: 28 days (June 21st to July 19th 2015) to win at 70.3 Mont Tremblant, 70.3 Muskoka and 70.3 Racine
• Laura Philipp: 29 days (May 13th to June 11th 2017) to win at 70.3 Mallorca, 70.3 Austria and 70.3 Kraichgau
• Andy Potts: 28 days (June 26th to July 24th 2016) to win at 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, 70.3 Vineman and IM Canada

Four Wins

• Michael Raelert: 41 days (October 26th to December 6th 2014) to win at 70.3 Miami, 70.3 Mandurah, 70.3 Ballarat and Challenge Bahrain
• Daniela Ryf: 42 days (July 27th to September 7th 2014) to win at IM Switzerland, 70.3 Wiesbaden, IM Copenhagen and 70.3 Worlds
• Daniela Ryf: 71 days (April 25th to July 5th 2015) to win Challenge Fuerteventura, 70.3 Mallorca, 70.3 Switzerland and IM Germany
• Holly Lawrence: 71 days (May 6th to July 16th 2017) to win at 70.3 St. George, 70.3 Santa Rosa, 70.3 Mont Tremblant and 70.3 Racine
• Lucy Charles: 83 days (May 7th to July 29th 2017) to win Challenge Lisboa, IM Lanzarote, Challenge Samorin and Challenge Prague
• Lionel Sanders: 84 days (April 26th to July 19th 2015) to win at 70.3 Texas, 70.3 Mont Tremblant, 70.3 Muskoka and 70.3 Racine
• Heather Wurtele: 84 days (March 20th to June 12th 2016) to win at 70.3 Monterrey, 70.3 California, 70.3 St. George and 70.3 Victoria

Five Wins

• Michael Raelert: 83 days (September 14th to December 6th 2014) to win at 70.3 Ruegen, 70.3 Miami, 70.3 Mandurah, 70.3 Ballarat and Challenge Bahrain
• Daniela Ryf: 98 days (June 1st to September 7th 2014) to win at 70.3 Switzerland, IM Switzerland, 70.3 Wiesbaden, IM Copenhagen and 70.3 Worlds

This post analyzes the importance of the different legs in a long-distance triathlon and how many of the leaders in T1 and T2 end up winning the race. For the 2017 season, there are 74 data points (40 different race courses: 7 Challenge races, 26 Ironman races with male and female fields, 6 single-gender Ironman races, and Embrun). There are links to all the results mentioned, so feel free to explore some of the amazing 2017 races!

Best Swim (also Leading in T1): 19%

In 2017, the swim leaders were able to win slightly more races (14 out of 74 or 19%) than in previous years (2016: 14%, 2015: 17%). Athletes that lead in T1 and go on to win the race usually lead “wire-to-wire”. As in previous years, there was only one instance where an athlete “lost” the lead on the bike and then re-claimed it on the run. This year it was Clemente Alonso-McKernan who had the fastest swim at IM Sweden but then was more than seven minutes behind Cameron Wurf in T2 before putting ten minutes into Cam to win the race.

Not very many athletes are able to have the best times in all three legs, in 2017 there were four: Daniela Ryf (winning IM South Africa), Timothy O’Donnell (winning IM Boulder), Jan Frodeno (winning IM Austria) and Laurel Wassner (winning IM Taiwan). It is much more common to win a race with “a balanced performance”, without having the fastest time in any leg: In 2016 there were 11 races, this season there were 13.

Of course there are a lot of athletes that can win the race even when they are not part of “the front group” after the swim. However, 80% of all winners in Ironman-distance races are less than 4:55 behind in T1. It is quite rare to see athletes winning a race that are more than ten minutes behind after the swim (in 2016 there were only 4 races or 5%). The biggest T1-deficit was overcome by Jodie Robertson who was 13:39 behind Lauren Brandon, the T1 leader at IM Texas. On the male side, Timothy Van Houtem made up 12:21 at Challenge Madrid. The slowest swims by IM winners were a 1:10:23 by Lisa Roberts at Challenge Madrid and Lukas Krämer who won Challenge Venice with a 1:01:33 swim.

Best Bike: 57%

As the bike is the longest leg in Ironman, of course it does have a large influence on the outcome. This was even more evident in 2017 (42 of 74 races or 57%) than in previous years (2016: 49%; 2015: 54%).

Similar to the swim, 80% of the winners are within 4 minutes (3:51 to be exact) of the fastest bike leg in a race. Only six athletes in 2017 were able to “afford” losing more than ten minutes on the run to the fastest bike riders. Lisa Roberts lost 17:22 to Rachel McBride at IM Cozumel, and Patrick Lange lost 15:59 to Cam Wurf at IM Hawaii.

Leading in T2: 58%

“Leading in T2” continues to be the best indicator for winning a race. This year’s share of 58% (43 out of 74 races) is similar to previous years (2016: 50%; 2015: 57%).

Even with a T2 lead, you still have to run pretty well to win the race, even if we saw two 2017 winners lose 20 minutes on the run – but those were super-bikers Andy Starykowicz (losing 20:33 to 17th place finisher Josh Terwood when winning IM Louisville) and Cam Wurf (losing 19:22 at IM Wales to Andrej Vistica who ended up in fourth place). As for most of the “80% gaps”, T2 leaders that go on to win the race lose less than five minutes on the run.

Best Run: 49%

Having the fastest run is another strong winning indicator. This year’s number (36 out of 74 or 49%) is almost the same as previously (2016: 49%; 2015: 40%). 80% of the winners were able to post times within 4:56 of the fastest run splits. Most of the slow run times by winners were caused by tough climatic conditions: The three slowest marathon times by winners were Laurel Wassner’s 3:49 at IM Taiwan, Verena Walter’s 3:25 at Challenge Taiwan and Diana Riesler’s 3:19 at IM Malaysia – all in tough conditions and all three within four minutes of the best run splits. (Laurel even had the fastest female run split at IM Taiwan.)

There were some pretty large gaps that winners were able to make up on the run: Lisa Roberts made up 24:46 at IM Cozumel (followed by Rachel Joyce 12:24 at IM Mont Tremblant), on the male side Matt Hanson won at IM Texas even being 15:10 behind in T2, another big gap was Patrick Lange’s 10:55 deficit in Kona. Typically the gap has to be much smaller, 80% of winners are within 5:14 of the leaders in T2.

I’ve recently posted about the fastest 2017 IM finishes, this post aggregates the data by continent and nations: Who were the fastest women in 2017?

Fastest Male IM Finishes by Continent

The continental situation is the same for the men as for the women: Europe, North America and Oceania are close together, Africa and South America are a bit back, followed by Asia/Pacific with a large gap. One surprise to me is that the fastest Oceania time in 2017 was posted by an athlete from New Zealand (Mike Phillips).

Fastest Male IM Finishes by Nation

There are always nations where the top spot is hotly contested (for example the “big nations” that have most of the wins: Australia, Great Britain, Germany, USA) and it’s not always easy to keep track of who’s been the fastest in the season. There were a number of national records this year, with the exception of Tim Don’s British record at IM Brasil they were all posted in Texas and Barcelona. (A complete list of national records can be found on my page on IM Records.)

I’ve recently posted about the fastest 2017 IM finishes, this post aggregates the data by continent and nations: Who were the fastest women in 2017?

Fastest Female IM Finishes by Continent

Looking at the fastest times by continent, a clear order is evident: Europe, North America and Oceania are close together, Africa and South America are a bit back, followed by Asia/Pacific with a large gap.

Fastest Female IM Finishes by Nation

There are always nations where the top spot is hotly contested (for example the “big nations” that have most of the wins: Australia, Great Britain, Germany, USA) and it’s not always easy to keep track of who’s been the fastest in the season. We’ve also seen a number of new national records this season, for example Helle Frederiksen’s 8:55 debut IM finish with a new Danish record was quite impressive. (A complete list of national records can be found on my page on IM Records.)