New year, new chances. And Laura Philipp grabbed those chanced during last week’s Ironman 70.3 Dubai, as she ran to a big win and a new world record. Her massive victory and big advantage to the number two, Daniela Ryf, saw Philipp move up two places in the PTO World Ranking. Ryf, who was in second position before, moved down to third, while Lucy Charles, who used to lead the list, now settles for second.
The men’s top three remained unchanged after the latest updates, which gave athletes points for the latest races, among those Ironman 70.3 Dubai. Gustav Iden still leads the list, Jan Frodeno is in second and Lionel Sanders in third. Noteworthy is that the points of Clash Miami, which took place last Saturday and was won by Sam Long (fifth place now), haven’t been taken into account yet. The reason that Marten van Riel isn’t in the top ten – or even hundred – despite winning Ironman 70.3 Dubai and setting a new world record, is that the PTO only takes three non-drafting races into account. In 2021 and the first part of 2022 Van Riel didn’t come to that.
Shuffled women’s top three
Philipp ended up claiming the top spot among the girls thanks to the 100.38 points she earned in Dubai. Her other best two races in a year time were Ironman Finland (115.61 points) and Ironman Austria (109.43 points). That saw the German athlete come down to an average of 108.48.
In comparison: Charles noted an average of 107.55 points thanks to the Ironman 70.3 world championship in 2021 (123.98 points), the Collins Cup (101.76 points) and Ironman 70.3 Elsinore (97.21 points). Ryf pulled off her two best – the highest points – races in 2021 with Ironman 70.3 St. George (114.85 points) and Ironman Tulsa (110.13 points). By finishing second in Dubai, on quite a distance from Philipp (3:52 minutes), Ryf ends up below Philipp. That’s because Ryf’s best three races decide her average, but races in 2022 replace those in 2021, meaning Ryf’s third race now has to be Ironman 70.3 Dubai, even though she earned more points in some other 2022 races.
This is the women’s and men’s top ten
