Of course she was seen as the biggest favorite for the win and Laura Philipp lived up to her role as a favorite at Ironman South Africa: despite bad weather and a significantly shortened swim (from 3.8 kilometers to 900 meters), the German powerwoman did not let herself be fooled, eventually winning by force.
Philipp was racing right at the front of the race right away: after the 900-meter swim, Fenella Langridge came back out of water first after 12:58 minutes, followed by Philipp at just 18 seconds. On the bike, Philipp joined Langridge almost immediately and so did South African Jade Roberts. Thus a leading group of three women was formed. It stayed that way for about forty kilometers, because then Philipp took off on her own. From then on, she wouldn’t see anyone no more.
Back in T2, Philipp’s lead had increased to five minutes; Justine Mathieux then followed in second, while Penny Slater returned to the transition area one minute later in third. Langridge came back in fourth and was then 7:35 minutes behind.
While Langridge used the marathon to run back to second, Philipp was actually able to freewheel to victory. Her lead kept growing and so the run got nowhere exciting. In the end Philipp claimed victory after 8:01:59. Langridge crossed the line as second after 8:13:17 and Mathieux as third in 8:14:09.
