{"id":26039,"date":"2023-10-16T04:49:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T02:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7961c2e9-09f5-4abd-b7e9-9123fa8ffb62"},"modified":"2023-10-17T12:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T10:46:02","slug":"taylor-knibb-thankful-for-kona-experience-as-she-looks-towards-olympics","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/taylor-knibb-thankful-for-kona-experience-as-she-looks-towards-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Knibb thankful for Kona experience as she looks towards Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Monday, 16 October 2023 at 02:49 AM<\/p>

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USA\u2019s Taylor Knibb<\/a> said that fourth place in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii was the learning experience she needed ahead of next year\u2019s Olympic Games in Paris.<\/strong><\/p>

Rather than compete in the World Triathlon Championship Series finale in Spain over the same standard distance that will be used in the Games, the\u00a025-year-old instead chose to focus on her Ironman debut on the Big Island, where her mum was also racing in the age-group ranks.<\/p>

\u201cThe Olympics is very unique and the only other event in triathlon with a lot of focus and a lot of pressure and a lot of noise and a lot of media is Kona,\u201d she explained. \u201cI think in terms of preparing, if I went to another WTCS race, that\u2019s great, but it\u2019s not going to prepare me in that way [for next year\u2019s Olympics].\u201d<\/p>

Already a two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion, Knibb qualified for the race in Hawaii after defending her 70.3 crown in Finland in August<\/strong><\/a>, and had learned to knuckle down and try to avoid too many other commitments.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to say no [to media requests], I don\u2019t want to say no, but I have to learn. I think in terms of that it was a tremendous opportunity because there is no other opportunity like it.\u201d<\/p>

For much of Saturday\u2019s race on the Big Island Knibb was in second place behind eventual winner, Lucy Charles-Barclay<\/strong><\/a>. It was only in the later stages of the marathon that she was passed by the two Germans, first 2019 champion Anne Haug<\/strong><\/a> and then Laura Philipp<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>

Knibb also headed five US women in the top 10, including Chelsea Sodaro<\/strong><\/a> (6th), Skye Moench<\/a><\/strong> (7th), Sarah True <\/strong>(8th), and Jocelyn McCauley<\/strong> (10th), as well as serving a 1min potential for unintentional littering after losing hydration bottles from her bike.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI think everyone had challenges out there and I was fed a few. It was like, ok, how do you deal with that?\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I got on to the Queen K [the major highway for the 112-mile bike leg], I looked at the shadow [on the road] and I was like: \u201cI do not have either of my rear bottles!\u201d<\/p>

Shown a yellow card after losing a third bottle outside the designated drop-off zones near the aid stations, Knibb then couldn\u2019t stop at the first available penalty tent because it wasn\u2019t yet ready to receive athletes.<\/p>

\u201cI was nervous that if I missed the tent I would be DQd,\u201d she explained. \u201cThere were a lot of moving pieces.\u201d Eventually she could pull in to serve the infraction just before the second transition, and still headed out on the marathon in second place.<\/p>

\u201cThis is a very special race and I didn\u2019t fully understand it before coming here,\u201d she added. \u201cBut being out on the course I understand why it\u2019s so important to the triathlon community. I couldn\u2019t have any expectations because so much was unknown. When racing phenomenal athletes in a place that has unpredictable conditions, I didn\u2019t know whether I was ready for this, and I think you saw on the last 4km of the run how my preparation was.\u201d<\/p>

Knibb\u2019s self-deprecating comment belies the fact she still delivered a 10th best 3:05:13 marathon. Maybe not a race-winning split, but enough to give her a 8:35:56 finish time \u2013 the second fastest debut in Kona after Sodaro’s 8:33:45 winning time from last year.<\/p>

What were Knibb\u2019s thoughts heading along Ali\u2019i Drive to the finish? \u201cI was so grateful to be there, but my Garmin read 42.4km so I was like: \u2018When is this coming?\u2019 I know the marathon course is accurate, but this seems long. That\u2019s what I thinking. I was so grateful to lie down.\u201d<\/p>

As for not having to race alongside a men\u2019s professional field because of Ironman\u2019s women-only commitment: \u201cI did make the mistake of asking a few men this week whether they were racing. It\u2019s just an easy thing to say. You look fit, you look ready, but no. It\u2019s just a very different atmosphere and it was very nice not to have any men interfering with the race. It was one less thing to think about because there are a lot of things to think about out there.\u201d<\/p>

Top image credit:<\/strong> Christian Petersen\/Getty Images<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n