Taylor Knibb, Lionel Sanders Win 70.3 Oceanside & Maximum IRONMAN Pro Series Points

Southern California and its triathlon-loving community played host to the 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN^® 70.3 Oceanside, part of the IRONMAN Pro Series™, on April 6. In the fast and furious professional races worthy of the IRONMAN  Pro Series opener, Taylor Knibb (USA) claimed the women’s title with a time of 4:09:55, while Lionel Sanders (CAN) secured the men’s title with a finishing time of 3:46:24.
 
Taylor Knibb, who finished 11 minutes faster than second place said: “I love the IRONMAN races, I think they’re the heart and soul of the sport. Today reminded me that these are my favorite races, period.”
 
“It’s great to be back out, it’s always a fun start to the season, it’s a tough race but a great atmosphere. I made a lot of mistakes today but there were some good parts and some bad parts but I’m just glad to validate for IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds [in Taupo].” She added.
 
After an important win to start the year, Lionel Sanders commented: “I’m really excited for the Pro Series, I love what IRONMAN is doing and think it’s great for the sport. It’s a stacked field...you’ve got to fight for every second. I really like the structure of the series, and I mean the game is tough...that was a really good performance, and I could never let off the gas because I know these guys want it as bad as anyone else.”
 
“This series allows me to focus on five races which I believe is important for peak performance, and to have my family there at every single race and that is what’s important to me,” Sanders added.
 
Top Five Female Professional Results
 

 
Top Five Male Professional Results
 

 
The 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, part of the IRONMAN Pro Series, saw nearly 100 professional athletes toe the start line as well as over 2,800 age group athletes. The event offered a professional prize purse of $50,000 USD and three female professional and three male professional qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place on December 14 & 15 in Taupo, New Zealand. The event was the IRONMAN Pro Series debut and lived up to the billing of Every Second Matters, with fast racing and close finish times creating drama and excitement:
 
News and Notes

• The men’s and women’s respective pro fields saw 3 Americans and 3 Canadians finish among the Top five with Canadian Lionel Sanders winning the men’s race and American Taylor Knibb winning the women’s race. Representatives of Australia, Great Britain, Belgium, and Germany rounded out the remaining places in the Top 5 of the collective men’s and women’s field
• Lionel Sanders recorded his third victory in Oceanside having also won in 2016 and 2017. Sanders who has always performed well at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, also has two second-place finishes (2018, 2022) and a third-place finish (2015)
• Lionel Sanders winning time was just 1:24 minutes slower than compatriot, Jackson Laundry’s course record in 2022
• Taylor Knibb’s overall finish time of 4:09:55 was just over three minutes behind the women’s course best time which the American set herself in 2022
• Magnus Manner (DEU) and Fenella Langridge (GBR) were first out of the water with times of 22:58 and 25:23, respectively
• Sam Long was first off the bike in 2:05:45, just one minute slower than the bike course record Lionel Sanders set in 2015 (02:04:46)
• In the women’s field, Taylor Knibb had the fastest bike split of 02:18:00, matching Daniela Ryf’s bike course best from 2019
• Connor Weaver (USA) clocked the fastest run of the day in an impressive 1:10:01, and Grace Thek (AUS) recorded the fastest run time for the female professionals with a time of 1:19:28.
• A total of 96 Professional triathletes started the race with 67 pros finishing fast enough behind the race winner to earn points toward the IRONMAN Pro Series standings

Full results for the 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside can be found at www.ironman.com/im703-oceanside-results. For additional event information, please visit www.ironman.com/im703-oceanside.
 
IRONMAN Pro Series Standings
The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. How it works can be found here.
 
Victories for Knibb and Lange ensured both athletes walked away with the maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points available for an IRONMAN 70.3 of 2,500. This weekend’s results mean Knibb and Lange take an early lead in the overall IRONMAN Pro Series standings. Athletes finishing behind the race winner saw their points diminish with every second that ticked off behind the race winner.
 
IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female
 

 
IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male
 

 
Full IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at proseries.ironman.com.
 
Next Events Coming Up
The 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series continues to heat up, with racing in the Lone Star State for Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas on April 27 up next.
 
Replay coverage of racing at the 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside is available globally on Outside+.
 
For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit proseries.ironman.com