Julia Skala breaks Norseman course record, Kristian Grue wins in fourth try

Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

The 2025 edition of the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon took place on Saturday in Norway, kicking off in the small village of Eidfjord with athletes jumping off a ferry into the water and then taking them 140 miles to the 6,000-foot Mount Gaustatoppen. Norway’s Kristian Grue, a two-time second-place finisher at the race, managed to take the final step up to the top of the podium, grabbing the win in 9:45:20.On the women’s side, it was Germany’s Julia Skala who stormed to victory, crossing the line in 11:00:23, breaking the previous course record by an amazing 16 minutes. 

Grue Tops the Podium 

The swim start was delayed by a few minutes, but when the race finally got underway, Grue wasted no time positioning himself at the head of the field. He had a significant gap between himself and the next-closest swimmer after just a hundred meters or so. By the time the athletes reached the halfway point of the 2.4-mile swim, Grue was well and truly racing all  alone, something he would get used to by the end of the day. 

Athletes in action in the fjord swim at Norseman. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

He exited the water in 53:56, and he was out of transition just 16 seconds later. Finland’s Juuso Manninen was out of the water second, and he found himself close to three minutes back of Grue. That was the closest anyone would come to the 30-year-old Norwegian for the rest of the race. Checkpoint after checkpoint on the bike, he continued to extend his lead over the rest of the field. 

At the halfway point in the ride, he had an eight-minute lead over second place. By the end of the ride, that gap had grown to 13 minutes. It looked like an insurmountable deficit for the second-place chaser at the time, Grue’s compatriot Hans Christian Tungesvik. It also looked like a lead that Grue couldn’t fumble even if he tried. But the thing about the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is that it is difficult from beginning to end. There is no point in the race where athletes can take it easy or coast, and Grue certainly knew that from past experience.

Standing between him and his first win at this race was a marathon that ended with 10 miles of climbing. For many, this would be a daunting task. It likely was for Grue, too, but he’d been there before, he knew what was coming and he was ready to tackle Mount Gaustatoppen.

He set off on the run course with a massive lead, but he didn’t give his competitors any chance to sneak their way back into the race. Instead, he hammered out mile after mile, eventually making it to Norseman’s infamous Zombie Hill (four miles of switchbacks with no flats or breaks in the climb) and firing upward.

Grue wins the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

He quickly made it to the off-road section of the course, and set about climbing to the summit of Mount Gaustatoppen. The final climb is hardly runnable, and it is more of a scramble to the top. Regardless of how he had to ascend, Grue made it to the top, where he crossed the finish line and let out a primal shout that was likely a combination of excitement, elation, adrenaline and relief. He stopped the clock in 9:45:20 (the third-fastest time in Norseman’s 22-year history), recording the fastest split of the day in each leg of the race.

Patience and Planning for Skala

Skala is not the fastest swimmer in any race she enters. She can hold her own, but it’s expected that she will have a gap to close after exiting the water. That was the case on Saturday, as she climbed out of the water at Eidfjord and found herself more than three minutes back of the early leader, Lani Seaman of the U.S. She didn’t panic, however, and she instead stuck to her pre-race plan. She was sitting in fourth place, and she quickly picked off each of the three women (as well as many men) in front of her.

After about seven miles, she had climbed into first place, and like Grue, she never looked back. She stayed at the front of the women’s race for the remainder of the bike ride, but it wasn’t until she got to the run that she really began to show off.

Throughout the ride, Skala was well behind the previous women’s course record. That time was 11:16:10, set by Norway’s Mette Pettersen Moe in 2018. With each passing checkpoint on the ride, Skala’s times were well behind those of Pettersen Moe’s seven years earlier. As she started the run, no one would have guessed that she would even come close to beating that time.

Skala celebrates her win with her husband and coach, Michael. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

But then, slowly, she ate into the record. Soon enough, it wasn’t just a possibility that she could break it, but an inevitability that she would. In the process of chasing down the record, Skala passed 13 men to climb to sixth place overall. She crossed the finish line and fell into the arms of her husband and coach, Michael Skala, and cried.

She had done it, not just winning the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in her first attempt, but smashing the course record at the same time. The race was incredible to watch, and Skala’s performance will be talked about in the Norseman community for years to come.

For full results from Norseman, click here, and be sure to follow along for more content as the race weekend unfolds.

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