Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf burst onto the IRONMAN race scene in 2014. Last June she achieved a remarkable double, winning the European 5150 Championship (standard distance) and her IRONMAN debut on the same weekend in Zurich, Switzerland. Over the next few months she captured the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship title, her second IRONMAN title in Copenhagen and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. She finished the year as runner-up at the IRONMAN World Championship.
Ryf is the latest in a series of dominant Swiss IRONMAN stars. In July she will take on her countrywoman Caroline Steffen, the 2012 IRONMAN European champion. Steffen is a two-time runner-up in Kona, and also a two-time champion at the IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship in Melbourne, Australia. In taking the Melbourne title in 2012 Steffen missed the world-best full-distance time by just 50 seconds.
One of the fastest German IRONMAN athletes ever, Julia Gajer has one IRONMAN title to her name (IRONMAN Arizona, 2013) and finished sixth—just one place behind Steffen—at last year’s IRONMAN World Championship.
"For German athletes the IRONMAN European Championship is one of the most prestigious titles in the sport," says Gajer.
When it started in 2002 the IRONMAN European Championship was the first IRONMAN event to take place in a major urban center and remains one of the most prestigious events on the world triathlon scene.
"At the end of the day it’s our job to provide the athletes with a stage on which to perform. Frankfurt has proven to be a terrific venue for the IRONMAN European Championship and we look forward to the most competitive race outside of the IRONMAN World Championship," adds Thomas Dieckhoff, CEO of IRONMAN Europe, Middle East & Africa. "IRONMAN has invested heavily in our championship event coverage in 2015, with live video, a hosted show, GPS tracking of the pros and enhanced age-group tracking to the entire world."
In addition to the competitive professional field, more than 3,000 age-group athletes are expected to compete at this year’s race.