Who is Daniela Ryf?<\/strong><\/h2>\nDaniela Ryf was a reliable, consistent World Triathlon Series competitor until one day August day in 2012 changed the course of her triathlon career. Until that point, the Swiss athlete had enjoyed a handful of podium finishes across the WTS calendar (including a win in Seoul in 2010), but was never challenging the overall series standings.<\/p>\n
Then came London 2012. Having finished seventh at the previous Olympics in Beijing in 2008 at the age of 21, Ryf was holding out for a medal of some colour. That didn\u2019t happen. She trailed home in 40th place instead. Then a brave decision was made. Rather than be an above-average Olympic-distance triathlete, she opted to go long, to become much more than above-average in the Ironman pond.<\/p>\n
Ryf\u2019s first appearance at Kona, in 2014, resulted in a silver medal for the rookie<\/strong><\/a>. But, by then, she had already triumphed in the Ironman 70.3 world championships. And when she went one better the following year and took gold over the full distance<\/strong><\/a>, an Ironman star was truly born.<\/p>\nRyf dominated women\u2019s long-distance triathlon over the latter half of the 2010s, resulting in 10 Ironman world titles in all.<\/p>\n
None were as impressive as her 2018 victory<\/strong><\/a>, when she not only took a chunk of nearly 20 minutes off the Kona course record but did so having been stung by a jellyfish on her swim.<\/p>\nAnd then in June 2023 she reminded the world that she\u2019s still the one to beat when she annihilated the long-course world record by winning Roth in 8:08:21, finally beating Chrissie Wellington\u2019s 8:18:13 from 2011.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t come much tougher than Daniela Ryf.<\/p>\n
How old is Daniela Ryf?<\/strong><\/h2>\nDaniela Ryf was born on 29 May 1987, making her 36 years of age.<\/p>\n
Daniela Ryf\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\""NICE,\"]( "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Daniela Ryf en route to Ironman 70.3 world title No.5, on 7 September, 2019, in Nice, France. Credit: Nigel Roddis\/Getty Images for Ironman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nAugust 2008: Makes a splash at the Olympics in China<\/strong><\/h3>\nAt the age of just 21, Ryf finishes a highly credible seventh at the Beijing Olympics. A lauded and well-decorated triathlon career surely awaits.<\/p>\n
June 2009: A maiden podium finish in the WTS series<\/strong><\/h3>\nFollowing on from the promise of the previous summer\u2019s Olympics, Ryf makes the top three of World Triathlon Series race in Washington DC. The following month, this is repeated with a podium finish in Hamburg. At the season\u2019s end, Ryf comes fourth overall, ahead of defending champion Helen Jenkins.<\/p>\n
May 2010: Ryf\u2019s first \u2013 and only \u2013 WTS win<\/strong><\/h3>\n ![\""daniela-ryf-nicola-spirig-seoul-2010"\"]( "\\"\"daniela-ryf-nicola-spirig-seoul-2010\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Compatriot Nicola Spirig, who finished fourth, congratulates Daniela Ryf on her maiden World Championship Series victory in Seoul on 8 May, 2010. Credit: Delly Carr<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nRyf\u2019s progress within the WTS ranks continues and she takes victory when the series reaches Seoul. It\u2019s a tight race, but Ryf holds her nerves in a field full of established athletes, including Emma Moffatt, Nicola Spirig, Andrea Hewitt, Emma Snowsill and Helen Jenkins. It will be her only WTS win.<\/p>\n
August 2010: Double medal glory in the Lausanne world champs<\/strong><\/h3>\nTwo very satisfying days of racing on home turf in Lausanne. First comes a bronze medal in the inaugural sprint world championships; the following day, there\u2019s a gold medal as the Swiss team take the mixed relay world title ahead of France and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
August 2012: The result that made up her mind<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe London Olympics brings Ryf to a T-junction in her career. Finishing down in 40th prompts thoughts of a reboot and, at the comparatively young age of 25, she upgrades from Olympic distance into the unremittingly tough world of Ironman.<\/p>\n
- Spirig wins 2012 London Olympic gold in photo finish<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
September 2014: The first of many world titles in the Ironman universe<\/strong><\/h3>\nAfter less than two years racing long distance, Ryf takes the Ironman 70.3 world title in Mont-Tremblant in Canada. It is the first of an unprecedented five such titles. A month later she finishes runner-up in Kona.<\/p>\n
October 2015: World champ at both half and full distance<\/strong><\/h3>\n ![\""KAILUA\"]( "\\"\"Ironman\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Daniela Ryf wins the 2015 Ironman World Championship on 10 October in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.\u00a0Credit: Delly Carr\/IRONMAN via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nSix weeks after regaining her Ironman 70.3 world crown<\/strong><\/a>, Ryf improves on her silver won the previous year when she adds the Ironman world title to her ever-growing list of victories. She becomes only the second woman (after Britain\u2019s Leandra Cave) to be a double Ironman world champ in the same year.<\/p>\nDecember 2015: Ryf pockets triathlon\u2019s first million-dollar purse<\/strong><\/h3>\nVictory at the Ironman 70.3 Middle East championship in Bahrain<\/strong><\/a> completes a trinity of triumphs in the Nasser Bin Hamad Triple Crown series that also takes in Challenge Dubai and the Ironman 70.3 world championships. In doing so, Ryf triggers the prize offered to anyone who wins all three races. The reward for her hat-trick? A cool million dollars. It\u2019s triathlon\u2019s first seven-figure payday.<\/p>\n- Daniela Ryf wins Challenge Roth\u00a02016<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
October 2017: Six of the best for the multiple world champ<\/strong><\/h3>\nRyf\u2019s victory at Kona completes a hat-trick of Ironman world titles after her successes in 2015 and 2016<\/strong><\/a>. A month earlier, she also took her third Ironman 70.3 world crown in Chattanooga, thus making it a wholly unprecedented double hat-trick.<\/p>\n- Daniela Ryf storms to Challenge Roth 2017 win<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
October 2018: A sting in the tail \u2013 but also a record time<\/strong><\/h3>\n ![\""KAILUA\"]( "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Daniela Ryf sets the course record of 8:26:16 to win the Ironman World Championships on 13 October, 2018, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Credit: Al Bello\/Getty Images for IRONMAN<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nRyf registers her fourth Kona title on the trot \u2013 and this was undeniably the most brilliant of the lot. Helped by a bike leg with an average speed in excess of 40km\/h, Ryf smashes her own course record, taking almost 20 minutes off her previous best.<\/p>\n
The feat was remarkable in itself, but went into the bounds of incredulity when Ryf declared that she had suffered a jellyfish sting on the swim.<\/p>\n
September 2019: Nine world titles and counting\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn Nice, Ryf beats Britain\u2019s Holly Lawrence and another Swiss athlete, Imogen Simmonds, to capture her fifth Ironman 70.3 world title in six years<\/strong><\/a>. It is her ninth Ironman crown. She\u2019s going to have to build herself a bigger trophy cabinet.<\/p>\nA month later and she\u2019s back for full-Ironman world title number 6, but she can only manage 13th.<\/p>\n
September 2021: Misses out where it counts\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n ![\""ST\"]( "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Daniela Ryf during the Ironman 70.3 World Championship on 18 September, 2021m in St George, Utah. Credit: Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images for IRONMAN<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nFive solid wins (70.3 Dubai, 70.3 St George, Ironman Tulsa, Ironman Switzerland and 70.3 Switzerland) but runs in in 11th at the 70.3 Worlds<\/strong><\/a>, where GB\u2019s Lucy Charles-Barclay<\/strong><\/a> reigns victorious, saying post-race: \u201cIt\u2019s been a rough few months with weird things happening to my body.\u201d<\/p>\nMay 2022: 10th time a charm<\/strong><\/h3>\nCrosses the line at the postponed 2021 Ironman World Championship, with a 7-min cushion over GB\u2019s Kat Mathews,\u00a0to take her fifth world title<\/strong><\/a>, joining an elite club whose only members are her compatriot Natascha Badmann and the Zimbabwean Paula Newby-Fraser.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s five 70.3s and five full Ironman titles and counting\u2026<\/p>\n
August 2022: Steers Team Europe to victory\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\nA powerhouse performance on the bike sees Ryf clock the fastest women\u2019s time of the day at the 2022 Collins Cup, winning her match against Flora Duffy<\/strong><\/a> and Sarah True<\/strong><\/a> and helping Team Europe retain the title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n- Daniela Ryf: Greatest of All Time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
October 2022: Takes eighth in Hawaii<\/strong><\/h3>\nOnce again struggles to show her previous Kona form but admits \u201cthere was not much left when I started the run.\u201d Is magnanimous in her defeat, though, and expresses full admiration and respect for the podium winners, Anne Haug<\/strong><\/a>, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Chelsea Sodaro<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n- Daniela Ryf: In Kona, if you fall apart you really fall apart<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Daniela Ryf in quotes<\/strong><\/h2>\nOn the career crossroads that sent her down the Ironman route:<\/strong> \u201cTwenty-five was a hard age for me because that was just after the Olympics in London and I wasn\u2019t in a good place. I almost quit.\u201d<\/p>\nOn being stung by a jellyfish at Kona in 2018 but still smashing the course record:<\/strong> \u201cI didn\u2019t know if I could stand the pain after being stung. Giving up was not an option. The plan was to get through the swim and get on the bike in the hope that the pain subsided. It was worth it because the tide turned and the day became great.\u201d<\/p>\nOn pushing herself to be the greatest-ever triathlete:<\/strong> \u201cWhatever doesn\u2019t hurt is just your comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\nOn winning her fifth Ironman world title:<\/strong> \u201cTwo-and-a-half years of waiting, I\u2019m so happy. It was so brutal. The last 10k I just wanted to lie on the floor but to come to the finish with this crowd and my team here, I\u2019m just so stoked to bring it together today.\u00a0I definitely felt also some people were doubting me and it was just kind of a little bit of saying like, well, don\u2019t underestimate angry birds because you make her angry.\u00a0Yeah, if I\u2019m angry, I\u2019m really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryf dominated women\u2019s long-distance triathlon over the latter half of the 2010s, resulting in 10 Ironman world titles in all.<\/p>\n
None were as impressive as her 2018 victory<\/strong><\/a>, when she not only took a chunk of nearly 20 minutes off the Kona course record but did so having been stung by a jellyfish on her swim.<\/p>\n And then in June 2023 she reminded the world that she\u2019s still the one to beat when she annihilated the long-course world record by winning Roth in 8:08:21, finally beating Chrissie Wellington\u2019s 8:18:13 from 2011.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t come much tougher than Daniela Ryf.<\/p>\n Daniela Ryf was born on 29 May 1987, making her 36 years of age.<\/p>\n At the age of just 21, Ryf finishes a highly credible seventh at the Beijing Olympics. A lauded and well-decorated triathlon career surely awaits.<\/p>\n Following on from the promise of the previous summer\u2019s Olympics, Ryf makes the top three of World Triathlon Series race in Washington DC. The following month, this is repeated with a podium finish in Hamburg. At the season\u2019s end, Ryf comes fourth overall, ahead of defending champion Helen Jenkins.<\/p>\n Ryf\u2019s progress within the WTS ranks continues and she takes victory when the series reaches Seoul. It\u2019s a tight race, but Ryf holds her nerves in a field full of established athletes, including Emma Moffatt, Nicola Spirig, Andrea Hewitt, Emma Snowsill and Helen Jenkins. It will be her only WTS win.<\/p>\n Two very satisfying days of racing on home turf in Lausanne. First comes a bronze medal in the inaugural sprint world championships; the following day, there\u2019s a gold medal as the Swiss team take the mixed relay world title ahead of France and New Zealand.<\/p>\n The London Olympics brings Ryf to a T-junction in her career. Finishing down in 40th prompts thoughts of a reboot and, at the comparatively young age of 25, she upgrades from Olympic distance into the unremittingly tough world of Ironman.<\/p>\n After less than two years racing long distance, Ryf takes the Ironman 70.3 world title in Mont-Tremblant in Canada. It is the first of an unprecedented five such titles. A month later she finishes runner-up in Kona.<\/p>\n Six weeks after regaining her Ironman 70.3 world crown<\/strong><\/a>, Ryf improves on her silver won the previous year when she adds the Ironman world title to her ever-growing list of victories. She becomes only the second woman (after Britain\u2019s Leandra Cave) to be a double Ironman world champ in the same year.<\/p>\n Victory at the Ironman 70.3 Middle East championship in Bahrain<\/strong><\/a> completes a trinity of triumphs in the Nasser Bin Hamad Triple Crown series that also takes in Challenge Dubai and the Ironman 70.3 world championships. In doing so, Ryf triggers the prize offered to anyone who wins all three races. The reward for her hat-trick? A cool million dollars. It\u2019s triathlon\u2019s first seven-figure payday.<\/p>\n Ryf\u2019s victory at Kona completes a hat-trick of Ironman world titles after her successes in 2015 and 2016<\/strong><\/a>. A month earlier, she also took her third Ironman 70.3 world crown in Chattanooga, thus making it a wholly unprecedented double hat-trick.<\/p>\n Ryf registers her fourth Kona title on the trot \u2013 and this was undeniably the most brilliant of the lot. Helped by a bike leg with an average speed in excess of 40km\/h, Ryf smashes her own course record, taking almost 20 minutes off her previous best.<\/p>\n The feat was remarkable in itself, but went into the bounds of incredulity when Ryf declared that she had suffered a jellyfish sting on the swim.<\/p>\n In Nice, Ryf beats Britain\u2019s Holly Lawrence and another Swiss athlete, Imogen Simmonds, to capture her fifth Ironman 70.3 world title in six years<\/strong><\/a>. It is her ninth Ironman crown. She\u2019s going to have to build herself a bigger trophy cabinet.<\/p>\n A month later and she\u2019s back for full-Ironman world title number 6, but she can only manage 13th.<\/p>\n Five solid wins (70.3 Dubai, 70.3 St George, Ironman Tulsa, Ironman Switzerland and 70.3 Switzerland) but runs in in 11th at the 70.3 Worlds<\/strong><\/a>, where GB\u2019s Lucy Charles-Barclay<\/strong><\/a> reigns victorious, saying post-race: \u201cIt\u2019s been a rough few months with weird things happening to my body.\u201d<\/p>\n Crosses the line at the postponed 2021 Ironman World Championship, with a 7-min cushion over GB\u2019s Kat Mathews,\u00a0to take her fifth world title<\/strong><\/a>, joining an elite club whose only members are her compatriot Natascha Badmann and the Zimbabwean Paula Newby-Fraser.<\/p>\n That\u2019s five 70.3s and five full Ironman titles and counting\u2026<\/p>\n A powerhouse performance on the bike sees Ryf clock the fastest women\u2019s time of the day at the 2022 Collins Cup, winning her match against Flora Duffy<\/strong><\/a> and Sarah True<\/strong><\/a> and helping Team Europe retain the title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Once again struggles to show her previous Kona form but admits \u201cthere was not much left when I started the run.\u201d Is magnanimous in her defeat, though, and expresses full admiration and respect for the podium winners, Anne Haug<\/strong><\/a>, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Chelsea Sodaro<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n On the career crossroads that sent her down the Ironman route:<\/strong> \u201cTwenty-five was a hard age for me because that was just after the Olympics in London and I wasn\u2019t in a good place. I almost quit.\u201d<\/p>\n On being stung by a jellyfish at Kona in 2018 but still smashing the course record:<\/strong> \u201cI didn\u2019t know if I could stand the pain after being stung. Giving up was not an option. The plan was to get through the swim and get on the bike in the hope that the pain subsided. It was worth it because the tide turned and the day became great.\u201d<\/p>\n On pushing herself to be the greatest-ever triathlete:<\/strong> \u201cWhatever doesn\u2019t hurt is just your comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n On winning her fifth Ironman world title:<\/strong> \u201cTwo-and-a-half years of waiting, I\u2019m so happy. It was so brutal. The last 10k I just wanted to lie on the floor but to come to the finish with this crowd and my team here, I\u2019m just so stoked to bring it together today.\u00a0I definitely felt also some people were doubting me and it was just kind of a little bit of saying like, well, don\u2019t underestimate angry birds because you make her angry.\u00a0Yeah, if I\u2019m angry, I\u2019m really fast.\u201d<\/p>\nHow old is Daniela Ryf?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Daniela Ryf\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""NICE,\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/03\/daniela-ryf-70.3-worlds-2019-b5a2caf.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>August 2008: Makes a splash at the Olympics in China<\/strong><\/h3>\n
June 2009: A maiden podium finish in the WTS series<\/strong><\/h3>\n
May 2010: Ryf\u2019s first \u2013 and only \u2013 WTS win<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\""daniela-ryf-nicola-spirig-seoul-2010"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/03\/daniela-ryf-nicola-spirig-seoul-2010-5d714ec.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"daniela-ryf-nicola-spirig-seoul-2010\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>August 2010: Double medal glory in the Lausanne world champs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
August 2012: The result that made up her mind<\/strong><\/h3>\n
September 2014: The first of many world titles in the Ironman universe<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2015: World champ at both half and full distance<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\""KAILUA\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/03\/daniela-ryf-kona-2015-99f989f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Ironman\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>December 2015: Ryf pockets triathlon\u2019s first million-dollar purse<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2017: Six of the best for the multiple world champ<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2018: A sting in the tail \u2013 but also a record time<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\""KAILUA\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/03\/daniela-ryf-kona-2018-f5a705c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>September 2019: Nine world titles and counting\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n
September 2021: Misses out where it counts\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\""ST\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/03\/daniela-ryf-ironman-70.3-worlds-2021-587e15c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"IRONMAN\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>May 2022: 10th time a charm<\/strong><\/h3>\n
August 2022: Steers Team Europe to victory\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
October 2022: Takes eighth in Hawaii<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Daniela Ryf in quotes<\/strong><\/h2>\n