For the first time in nearly 24 months, IRONMAN will be producing a World Championship event this weekend with the 2021 70.3 World Championships in St. George. The single-day event will take place with approximately 100 professional athletes and 3,000 age-groupers all vying for the world championship crown.

One could fill a rather star-studded field with pro athletes who will not be participating this weekend. On the men’s side, Jan Frodeno did not earn a slot and has hinted that he will instead be focusing on IRONMAN California instead. Lionel Sanders is putting all his eggs in 140.6 racing, going to Chattanooga and Sacramento over the next few weeks. Alistair Brownlee is still recovering from foot surgery. Javier Gomez isn’t coming, nor is Sebastian Kienle (despite his performance at the Collins Cup). Rudy Von Berg is still not fully back after mono. And lastly, defending IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange left it all on course at Challenge Roth and will not toe the line in St. George.

For the women, Anne Haug is recovering from her stellar effort at Challenge Roth. Olympic Champion Flora Duffy has decided not to start after a full schedule following her victory in Tokyo. Collins Cup superstar Taylor Knibb has also decided not to start after three hard efforts in a short span. And do not be surprised by any additional last minute dropouts, due to either injury in the final few days pre-race or due to the rising cases of COVID-19 in St. George.

This all said, there is still an incredibly deep field ready to race come Saturday morning. Let’s look at some of the top contenders coming into the race:

Men’s Contenders

Gustav Iden: One can’t look at the men’s field without mentioning the defending 70.3 World Champion and reigning PTO Champion. Iden has proven himself to be a balanced competitor, capable of making a winning move in any discipline. He also appears to be well-rested given a somewhat light schedule in 2021. The course in St. George is much like the one in Nice and should suit his attacking style.

Kristian Blummenfelt has been a bit busier than Iden in 2021. He earned the Olympic gold medal in flying style, as well as taking the World Triathlon Grand Final and World Championship in Edmonton. He’s also proven to be quite capable at the 70.3 distance, with multiple wins and a 4th place at the 2019 World Championships. Odds are this race will come down to Iden and Blummenfelt; could Blummenfelt add his third world title of 2021 to his name?

Sam Long will look to spoil the party of the Olympic distance superstars. Long has proven himself to be a formidable threat on the bike and run. His biggest challenge remains where he will be coming out of the water. At the Collins Cup, Jan Frodeno put the young upstart in his place early in the swim. That said, Long is on familiar territory in St. George, battling Lionel Sanders to the bitter end in a late race duel. If he’s able to minimize the swim gap, he is this writer’s sleeper pick.

Jackson Laundry is another dark horse who is quietly having a very strong year. Consistent top 5 performances earlier in 2021 morphed into podiums at 70.3 Des Moines, Rev3 Williamsburg, and a victory at 70.3 Ecuador. Laundry also had the sixth fastest time of all male competitors at the inaugural Collins Cup. His run, in particular, has proven to be like clockwork in the 1:10-1:13 range.

Full Men’s Start List

Bib Athlete
1 Gustav Iden
4 Kristian Blummenfelt
6 Sam Appleton
7 Bradley Weiss
8 Ben Kanute
10 Tim Reed
11 Michael Raelert
12 Sam Long
15 Daniel Bækkegård
16 Chris Leiferman
17 George Goodwin
18 Magnus Ditlev
19 Max Neumann
20 Andreas Dreitz
21 Frederic Funk
23 Jackson Laundry
26 Filipe Azevedo
27 Jan Stratmann
28 Maurice Clavel
30 Collin Chartier
31 Joe Gambles
32 Clement Mignon
33 Jason West
34 Antony Costes
35 Paul Ruttmann
36 Mauricio Mendez Cruz
37 Marcus Herbst
38 Miki Taagholt
39 Yvan Jarrige
41 Elliot Smales
42 Taylor Reid
43 Nils Frommhold
44 Gregory Barnaby
45 Nicholas Chase
46 Robbie Deckard
47 Robert Kallin
49 Eric Lagerstrom
50 Igor Amorelli
51 Martin Ulloa
52 Fernando Toldi
54 Tim Rea
55 Mika Noodt
56 Brennen Smith
57 Yohan Le Berre
58 Gabor Faldum
59 Dylan Magnien
61 Marty Andrie
62 Aaron Royle
63 Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez
64 Justin Metzler
65 Tyler Butterfield

Women's Contenders

Daniela Ryf has to be the favorite. It’s impossible to put her in any other position. When she is healthy, she’s unstoppable. No, really: her last non-victory when she was in full flight was in 2017. Since 2017 she’s started 26 races and won 22 of them. The aberration of her performance at the Collins Cup (chalked up to an allergic reaction) notwithstanding, even a less than 100% Ryf is still quite competitive. Given her outstanding performance at IRONMAN Switzerland, her track record would suggest everyone else is battling for second.

Lucy Charles-Barclay is the perennial bridesmaid to Ryf. Taking second on her debut at the IRONMAN World Championships, she’s continually nipped at the heels at whomever takes the win at a prestigious event. Her 2021 long course schedule has been lighter than normal, but took second at Challenge Miami, won 70.3 Elsinore, and had the second fastest women’s time at the Collins Cup. Her short course speed, coming from Super League, may prove to be beneficial this time out.

Holly Lawrence is yet another force to be reckoned with when she’s on. In 2019, Lawrence finished either first or second at every 70.3 she competed in. However, her 2021 has been more sporadic: sixth in St George, victory in Des Moines, second at Elsinore, and a disappointing performance at the Collins Cup.

Paula Findlay had breakthrough performances in 2019 and 2020, earning back-to-back Challenge Daytona titles and earning the first PTO Championship crown. Her 2021, meanwhile, has been more down than up, with a seventh at Challenge Miami and fourth at St. George, both performances marred by lingering injuries. Finally looking more healthy going into the World Championships, she’ll look to re-capture the magic that led to her late season wins of 2019 and 2020.

Full Women’s Start List

Bib Athlete
101 Daniela Ryf
102 Holly Lawrence
104 Chelsea Sodaro
105 Lucy Charles-Barclay
106 Emma Pallant-Browne
109 Katrina Matthews
110 Paula Findlay
111 Carrie Lester
112 Skye Moench
113 Jeanni Metzler
114 Jackie Hering
115 Ellie Salthouse
116 Lisa Norden
117 Nikki Bartlett
119 Meredith Kessler
120 Lucy Hall
121 Lesley Smith
122 Sarah Piampiano
123 Jocelyn McCauley
124 Pamella Oliveira
126 India Lee
127 Grace Thek
128 Maja Stage-Nielsen
129 Lisa Becharas
130 Anne Reischmann
131 Tamara Jewett
132 Chloe Lane
133 Justine Mathieux
134 Danielle Lewis
136 Julie Lemmolo
138 Kelsey Withrow
139 Anna-Lena Best-Pohl
140 Katharina Krüger
141 Kinsey Laine
142 Felicity Sheedy-Ryan
143 Line Thams
144 Grace Alexander
145 Maddy Pesch
146 Diane Luethi
147 Rachel Mensch
148 Amanda Wendorff
149 Kimberly Goodell
150 Jenny Fletcher