“I’m starting to feel better”
Laura Philipp collapses “strangely” after Ironman
October 15, 2023, 11:53 a.m
The German triathlete Laura Philipp runs euphorically to the finish line in third place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, a huge success. But the celebrations come to an abrupt halt hours after crossing the finish line: the athlete collapses, but is already sending a positive message.
Laura Philipp suffered a collapse after her third place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. The 36-year-old professional triathlete from Heidelberg reported on Instagram that she collapsed “very strangely” two hours after crossing the finish line. She still can’t hold herself upright properly. As Philipp reported in another post, she unfortunately ended up in the medical tent instead of at the party.
She was therefore missing from the official press conference of the top five athletes over the 3.86 kilometer swimming, 180.2 kilometer cycling and 42.2 kilometer running. “I’m starting to feel better and want to make sure I can celebrate properly tomorrow,” she wrote. She probably “left everything out there.”
Philipp achieved third place in the first all-women’s World Championship race on the Big Island behind world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay from Great Britain and Anne Haug from Bayreuth. After swimming, Philipp had to close a gap on the bike and secured third place at the end of the marathon.
“This is a mega German result,” cheered second-place Anne Haug on ARD. For the first time ever, two German women landed on the podium together at a World Triathlon Championship. “I was very emotional, I had to fight very, very hard,” said Philipp after she crossed the finish line with her arms raised and a big laugh. It was her first World Championship podium over this distance after fourth places in 2019 and 2022.