It was a chance encounter with Cuban featherweight sensation Kid Chocolate that first made Charles want to be a fighter. However, the problem was that Charles’ reign as heavyweight champion of the world followed that of a living legend, the enormously popular Joe Louis. A skillful technician, he holds wins over a long list of great fighters and he surely deserves to be better recognized for his achievements. Philipp - who was fourth last year after receiving a five-minute penalty for drafting (slipstreaming) on the bike leg - caught Knibb in the closing kilometres to take her first Ironman World Championship medal with Ryf signing off in fifth place.There’s little doubt that Ezzard Charles is one of boxing’s most underrated champions.

Haug was unofficially timed as running a women's Ironman marathon course record of 2:48:23 in finishing three minutes behind the winner. With 12km to go, Haug overtook Knibb to go second but still had seven minutes to make up on the leader.Īnd having failed to hold off superior runners in the past, Charles-Barclay had no such issues this time as she claimed a long-awaited Ironman world title in 8:24:31, nearly two minutes inside Ryf's previous course record of 8:26:18 from 2018. At midway, she was six minutes clear of Knibb with Haug just over three minutes further back. Laura Philipp was almost seven minutes further back in third place but Haug soon passed her fellow German before setting about the front two.Ĭharles-Barclay looked smooth at the start of her marathon run of 26.2 miles (42.2km).

Knibb served a one-minute stop-and-go penalty for unintentional littering before the transition and started the run with a deficit of three minutes and 49 seconds. Next was the 112-mile (180.2km) cycle with two-time reigning Ironman 70.3 (half Ironman) world champion Knibb making a move up from seventh after the swim into a clear second place.īut Charles-Barclay kept pushing on at the front, stretching her advantage to three minutes with Knibb more than six minutes clear of the chasers including Ryf and Haug. She was the only woman to reach the first transition in under 50 minutes with her rivals, led by USA’s Haley Chura, a minute and a half behind.Īmong the pre-race favourites, Haug, Ryf and reigning champion Chelsea Sodaro were in the second chase group some five minutes off the pace. Lucy Charles-Barclay goes wire to wire on KonaĪs she has done so many times before, Charles-Barclay - who just missed out on an open water swimming appearance at London 2012 - opened up a significant lead on the 2.4-mile (3.9km) swim.

Youbet charles champion