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The ultimate unscripted drama. Kona can be an athlete’s place of dreams, or their worst nightmare. Laidlow rode a bike-leg for the books, Blummenfelt puked up, Iden climbed off, Lange ran riot, and Matt Burton’s race was cut short by a jellyfish.

It was a day of course records: Aussie age-grouper Sam Askey-Doran smashed the swim record by 45-seconds posting a 45:43. On the bike, Sam Laidlow did the unthinkable with a 3:57:22 on the 180km course. To top it all off, Patrick Lange clocked a 7:35:53 to bring home the world title, and course record.

It was the Sam Laidlow show straight out of the water.

The French-Englishman broke his own Kona bike-leg record, clocking a mind-boggling 3:57:22 for the 180km course. In total, seven riders went under Laidlow’s old record, but only he would break the mythical four-hour barrier.

Laidlow was using our Sync x CSixx chainring, 64T.

Race speeds are getting faster and faster at Kona. Laidlow was a head-and-shoulders above the rest, finishing 5:53 ahead of second place Robert Kallin, the man who holds the record for the fastest Ironman bike leg of all time.

The development in times at Kona is almost a tale of two eras: pre and post-COVID. In 2018, Cam Wurf posted a 4:09:06, in 2022 it was Laidlow who lowered that mark to 4:04:36. In 2024, he went faster once again.

Why is this?

“It’s amazing, when we started Sync in 2018, the blowback that we received on the ‘high hands position’ was quite comical. ‘That will never work, Jan Frodeno has flat forearms [Jan was everyones idol at the time] so that must still be the most aero’, they said. Fast forward six years and there is barely an athlete with a forearm angle less than 15 degrees. I guess logic eventually shines through." 

- Ken Ballhause, Sync Ergonomics

Speaking of the flat forearms, positional work was the talk of the Big Island this week. The Norwegian duo, Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt - both former World Ironman Champs in their own right, turned up with unique and super "out there" positions.

For Gustav Iden, it was a hark back to the Obree days with a ‘superman’ style setup. Blummenfelt went the same direction - low angle and long. The 2021 World Champion had a good start, but was derailed by what the commentators described as a ‘violent episode of vomiting’. He was on the ropes, and quickly passed by the chasing group. His position has left many asking more questions, including the Ironman commentators.

"In this more aggressive position, could that also be impacting his stomach?”, the commentators asked. Whatever the reason, the impact was clear, he was “absolutely suffering while Sam Laidlow continues to extend his lead.”

The “Norwegian hype train” has been all the craze in recent years, but the train seems to have derailed in 2024. At T2, Blummenfelt was some 8:41, and Iden 20:48 back on Laidlow. Not the bike legs that were anticipated from the Norwegian duo. 

“Across the board it still amazes me seeing the various strategies of position optimisation, the lack of a systematic approach and the general poor understanding of biomechanics as it relates to time trial and triathlon performance. The outcomes are so predictable and obvious that it leaves you scratching your head, with the question of how this happens at the elite level of the sport.

Absolute outright CdA is not everything. Functional aero performance necessitates position sustainability over the duration of the event and across intensities that’s required for execution.“ 

- Ken Ballhause, Sync Ergonomics

Sam Laidlow and Magnus Ditlev looked like elite World Tour time-trialists at the head of affairs. Their positions were stable, consistent and functional. These guys are the best bikers in the sport right now, and they are impressive. Both bikes were fitted with 64T chainrings, knowing that being able to manage their work loads on the fast Kona course, would be a possibility to put time into their opponents. And that they did. 

As racing continues to get faster - as it always does in elite sport - athletes will search for every improvement. With the best chainrings, the fastest tyres, and a functionally fast and soundly optimised TT position, Sam Laidlow stepped off the bike with a huge advantage going into the run. Of course, the sport of triathlon requires more than a swim and a ride, this fairytale start would have a devastating end Laidlow.

‘Swim and bike for show, but run for dough’ is a trope that has long been used in Ironman racing.

The eventual winner, Patrick Lange, was simply in a different league. He unleashed a 2:37:34 marathon, just over a minute off the course record.

He finished the bike leg in 13th place, but running the marathon almost nine minutes faster than everyone else brought him home in first place. It was staggeringly fast. For those trying to do the maths, his average pace was 3:42/km. That’s the equivalent of doing a 5km in 18:30, but eight times in a row.

Laidlow was visually suffering on the run, eventually coming home in 18th place. He went big and gave context to what is possible in the future of Ironman racing.

With Lange winning his third Ironman Kona World Title, and the course record falling once again, it was a Kona for the history books. A record sixteen athletes went under the eight-hour mark and with Kona only happening every two-years now, it’s likely that we’re going to see huge improvements from each edition going forward. Elite sport never stands still.

For Sync athletes, it was a bitter-sweet day. The fastest Kona bike leg in history for Laidlow with our chainrings. Matt Burton was stung by jellyfish while warming up, ending his day before it had begun. Mike Phillips finished in 17th place, Sam Appleton in 24th and Ben Kanute in 31st. Our age group man, Sam Musgrove placed 5th in the M25-29 category, and 64th overall.

As predicted, Kona 2024 was epic. Full respect to every athlete that takes on the challenge, putting their body on the line in what is arguably the worlds toughest, single day, endurance event. The 2024 edition is one for the history books.