Ryf and Iden highlight 70.3 world champs pro fields

Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf and Norway’s Gustav Iden will both be back to try and defend the Ironman 70.3 World Championship titles they claimed in Nice two years ago, but both will face some stiff competition to do so.

Ryf will be going after a record sixth 70.3 world title in St. George, Utah, USA on Sept. 18. After a tough day at the Collins Cup last weekend, she’ll be facing both Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), the fastest on the day in Samorin, but also the woman who beat her in the first match of the day, American Taylor Knibb.

Other women in the pro women’s field to keep an eye on include Holly Lawrence (GBR), Ellie Salthouse (AUS), Paula Findlay (CAN) and Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR).

Here’s a list of the pro women:

Iden to face two Olympic gold medalists

To defend his title, Gustav Iden will have to beat his countryman, Kristian Blummenfelt, who is fresh off a gold-medal performance in Tokyo, along with Great Britain’s two-time gold medalist Alistair Brownlee, as long as he’s over the ankle surgery he had done in June. Two-time 70.3 world champion Javier Gomez is also in the field, as is Canada’s Lionel Sanders, who won the Ironman 70.3 North American Championships in St. George earlier this year. The man he outsprinted for the win, Sam Long (USA), will also be racing.

Here’s the pro men’s list: