She was one of the best performing athletes at the Ironman World Championships on Kona last month: Taylor Knibb. Not only because the top American athlete, who by the way was making her debut at the Full Distance, was in the race for a medal for a long time (she was only overtaken by Laura Philipp in the final kilometers, which caused her to miss out on third place) but mainly because you could see her visibly enjoying herself. She smiled a lot, waved to the crowd and, at least until the closing stages of the marathon, had the day of her life. “Unfortunately, the Long Distance is fun,” she judges now. That ‘unfortunately’ is of course exaggerated, as Knibb probably would have found it easier if she ‘only’ had to focus on shorter distances. Below is a video in which she discusses the race and her experiences:
