Kristian Blummenfelt storms to win, course record for second straight year at IRONMAN European Championship
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – JUNE 29: Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway wins the 2025 IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship on June 29, 2025. Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images for IRONMAN
Blummenfelt goes back to back at the IRONMAN European Championship. 2024 winning photo: Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
When Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt toes the start line of an IRONMAN, it’s tough to bet against him, and he showed why that’s the case at the IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship on Sunday. He erased a nine-minute deficit on the run course, moving from eighth to first to steal the win from another Kristian — Denmark’s Kristian Høgenhaug — in an amazing course record time of 7:25:57. Høgenhaug held on for second place, while Blummenfelt’s compatriot, Casper Stornes, produced the best IRONMAN result of his career, rounding out the podium in third.
Høgenhaug Blasts to the Lead
Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg led the men out of the water, exiting the swim course in 47:42. He was followed by a group of seven other men (including Høgenhaug and Stornes), all of whom were within 20 or so seconds of one another. It’s rare for Blummenfelt to be too far back after the swim, but he found himself sitting in 10th as he entered T1 on Sunday, a full minute and a half behind Salvisberg and the other leaders. Germany’s Patrick Lange was right alongside Blummenfelt as they exited the water, while Gustav Iden was another 15 seconds back.
After slower transitions, Stornes and Høgenhaug had faded to 47 and 90 seconds back, and Blummenfelt’s gap to the lead grew to more than two minutes. For the first 20 miles or so on the bike, it was Germany’s Jonas Schomburg leading the way. The German short-course star would be sidelined when his aero bars came off, though.
Stornes and Høgenhaug managed to reel the rest of the leaders in, and after catching them, it was Høgenhaug who set out on his own, flying up the road to take sole control of first place.
Høgenhaug at IRONMAN Hamburg in 2024.
About a quarter of the way into the bike, Høgenhaug had a lead of a minute and a half over Salvisberg, Stornes, and the rest of the chase pack. Blummenfelt found himself in the second group of chasers at that point, four and a half minutes back with Iden, Lange and Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev, among others. Things only continued to get worse for Blummenfelt and co. (and better for Høgenhaug) from that point onward, as the Dane’s lead continued to grow with every passing mile.
By the end of the first of two laps on the bike, Høgenhaug had built a 3:39 buffer over Stornes and the first chase group, while Blummenfelt, Ditlev and Iden were close to five minutes back. (Lange lost touch with that group mid-way through the first lap, and after 56 miles of riding, he found himself almost seven minutes behind the lead.)
Høgenhaug’s continued to grow from there, at one point reaching as much as eight minutes and change over the next-closest racer. By the end of the ride, Blummenfelt and Iden had managed to draw even with most of the rest of the field, but Høgenhaug remained unreachable for the time being. Ditlev had made up only a tiny bit of time in the closing stages of the bike, and he entered T2 7:50 behind his fellow Dane.
A Run for the Ages
A speedy transition gave Høgenhaug even more of a lead as he set out on the marathon course more than nine minutes clear of Ditlev. Stornes was close behind in third place, followed by seven other men (including Blummenfelt and Iden) all within a minute of the podium. It looked like a battle for second and third place, however, as Høgenhaug had built such a significant lead after his fearless riding and 3:52:10 bike split (which was the fastest of the day).
A penalty early in the run for receiving “outside assistance” ate up a minute of Høgenhaug’s lead, but after serving that time, he got back to business, carrying forward along the run course. After about five miles, Ditlev had clawed his way to within five and a half minutes of his compatriot, but it was at this point that a race official pulled up beside him and presented him with a red card, disqualifying him from the race. Ditlev was confused and incensed by this decision, asking the official to explain the reasoning.
Blummenfelt won IRONMAN Texas earlier this year.
Ditlev had reportedly littered outside of an aid station zone, leading to the red card, although he was permitted to keep running while officials confirmed the ruling. Quite a while later, it was announced that Ditlev’s red card was taken back, and he was allowed to finish the race.
After one of four laps on the run course, Høgenhaug’s lead was down to 5:19 over Ditlev, with Blummenfelt and Stornes not far behind. By the end of the second lap, the two Norwegians had passed Ditlev, moving into second and third, but still sitting more than four minutes back of the lead.
With less than a half-marathon to go, Blummenfelt dropped his friend and training partner and charged up the road, first place in his sights. After another lap, he had eaten away at Høgenhaug’s lead, and with only six miles to go, he was less than 90 seconds from the head of the race. From that point on, it was not a question of if Blummenfelt would catch Høgenhaug, but rather when he would.
The pass came just a couple of miles later, at the 21-mile mark. Blummenfelt blew by the Dane, who had put up a valiant effort. Blummenfelt was simply too good, running an unbelievable marathon split of 2:30:59 (in 90-degree heat). This is the fastest marathon of Blummenfelt’s IRONMAN racing career, beating the personal best he set in Frankfurt last year, when he ran 2:32:29. Blummenfelt’s final time was 7:25:57, which shatters his own IRONMAN Frankfurt course record (also from last year) of 7:27:21.
While he did lose a significant lead to Blummenfelt, Høgenhaug was no slouch on the run course. After posting the fastest bike split of the day, he followed it up with a 2:42 marathon to hold on for second place. He crossed the line in a stellar time of 7:28:32, just over a minute ahead of Stornes, who took the third and final spot on the podium.
Iden finished almost eight minutes back of Blummenfelt, crossing the line in fourth place, and Ditlev faded considerably in the back half of the run, dropping to eighth and stopping the clock more than 16 minutes behind the lead.
With his win, Blummenfelt moves up to first place in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings. Cam Wurf, who finished ninth in Frankfurt, climbs to second, and Stornes and Iden both jumped a considerable amount in the ranks, now sitting in third and fourth, respectively. Høgenhaug is now 22nd in the standings, which is a massive jump of 57 places after his solid showing in Germany.
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For the record, bike course was (as advertised by iRONMAN) 175.9km and the run course was 42.7km (500m long). Stromburg ‘ordered’ to stop after cockpit fail.
Video shows Ditlev was not shown any card before red btw. Was for littering after an aid station.
Hoegenhaug’s one minute penalty on the run, served in situ, was for a coach (or other support) running alongside for circa 100m shouting advice. Very very annoying, but totally valid.
Baekkegaard DNF’d end Lap 3 (30km).
Maybe Iden’s best race since his return to previous form.
Lindars front pack swim but early DNF.
Lange, Ditlev, Wurf #7 #8 #9. Latter gets his Nice slot.
IMWCQ: Hoegenhaug, Wurf, Stepniak, Salvisberg, Vogel
There was specific video of Ditlev being shown a card prior to the red, FWIW. IM had shared it on social.
For all the talk of referee’s not calling penalties, it’s the first time I can remember where you could say that the referee’s may have had a direct impact on results.
Fairy 'snuff.
Here is the incident: likely ‘end of littering zone’ sign (passed at 05:16:02); drop cup beyond littering zone of aid station; immediate reach for and blow whistle; TO remonstration; more; whistle; show red card.
05:16:02 to 05:16:40 on race clock (screen).
Maybe I have the wrong incident (but don’t think so).
Why was the penalty rescinded (completely)??
I’m not the only nerd who thinks no yellow card was seen (shown properly) to Ditlev).
Damn the video banned in certain countries. I looked at the IG account, they have video of the potential littering, but no video and only commentary of the yellow card/no yellow card issuance. And then Ryan said IM put on socials it showed him getting a yellow card, which can obviously get taken down at any time Ican’t find it on their IG account).
So they went from verbal cue (w/ no yellow card?) to then red card in a matter of seconds?
They pulled it, probably because they rescinded the DQ call. But it was clear they showed him the first card. Then there was a jump in the edit to the talk that Ajax mentions.
Anyways. Have front-page stuff to wrap up.
I wasn’t inferring it didn’t happen, I don’t have access to the above replay that Ajax is showing (US viewers can’t watch it and Outside only has replay likely for full members right now). THe IG account he’s also referencing said it went from a verbal cue (w/ no yellow card or even with a yellow card) to then a red card “seconds later”? Is that how quickly the officials are directed to penalize athletes. If they don’t immediately stop for a yellow is it an automatic red “within seconds”?
Well I’ve tried to describe exactly how it happened ‘live’. And with youtube I can pause/review and did so immediately (after going to the IM Rules and then to the IM Frankfurt Race Guide to check the IM rules and any ‘specials’ - see the ‘race day’ thread for that detail.
I was amazed that the ref went to red after the briefest of arguments. Maybe he flashed a yellow (though I assure you watching the 38 seconds I cannot detect any chance of it). The TO’s hand went to his whistle as the cup hit the ground. [05:16:06-08] The TO explained to Ditlev it was a penalty in place (three minutes) and indicated with arm to stop [05:16:13] but Ditlev was not having it. At no moment did the ref hold up a yellow card (he might have fumbled with it on his chest - maybe this is the SM image - do share someone). But why yellow? (see below) Then after another ten seconds or so another whistle [05:16:37] and up came the red [05:16:39].
I remain interested to hear WHY the penalty was rescinded. Without going too ‘DTU’ here, Ditlev littered in TO’s full view. TO was on bike <2m behind.
IRONMAN Rules
3.02 (f) A blue card will be used for drafting violations and intentional littering, and a yellow card will be used for certain other rule infringements;
I don’t know if I just haven’t been paying attention, but I didn’t even realize that’s how they give penalties on the run. Maybe it’s just so rare and I’ve only noticed the bike penalties. It was a bit wonky to watch the official grab his key chain of cards and sorta “fumble” through it while riding a bike to give the red card to him (like please don’t crash into the athletes trying to balance your bike and hand out penalties at the same time)
Watching the leader it was like literally just stopped randomly on the course and start your penalty, again that was the 1st time I’ve actually noticed it happening on the run. I actually assumed like the bike penalty tents there was a desiganted run penalty area for each course, did not know it was literally stand down immediately when the ref penalizes you. I will admit, when I watch IM’s these days, I sorta come and go with the coverage and am not “glued to the screen” for all 8+ hours anymore.
The IRONMAN rules specify where a penalty awarded on the run is to be served (I looked after Hoegenhaug got his stop-and-go). The ‘in situ’ is also from the IM Frankfurt Race Guide.
The IRONMAN Rules say:
3.02 (e) Run-course time penalties will be served at the point of the rule violation, under instructions from a Race Referee (there are no PTs on the run course);
Clearly if an athlete, Ditlev in this case, chooses not to stop, then it’s a red card job and then arguing to toss after finishing.
I guess it was obvious to Hoegenhaug that the idiot supporter who ran along beside (not behind) for ?100m in that first mile had generated the infringement.
Like you’d I’d be interested in the “why” the penalty was rescinded. From a procedural standpoint, the moment the ref makes. a call (even if it’s a bad call), it sorta starts an accepted chain of events written out by the rulebook. In fact I almost asked in the race day thread, ok cool to not get the red card, but did he still have to serve a 1 min penalty, and apparently the entire thing was cleared.