Patrick Lange ends final Hawaii Ironman with cramps, Laura Philipp takes silver

Lange's exit on the bike course

Patrick Lange, 40, pulled to the roadside about 65 kilometres into the bike leg, holding his left rear thigh, and continued after a stop of several minutes with his coach Ben Reszel. He stopped again after 96 of the 180.2 bike kilometres and did not restart. Reszel told ZDF that Lange felt a cramping tendency "over the entire posterior chain" and that the decision was taken at the turnaround in Hawi.

That is one of the hardest DNFs (Did not Finish) in my life.

Lange said this roughly three hours after his withdrawal. He had also struggled with similar problems at Ironman Texas in April, where he did not finish. Lange won the Hawaii race in 2017, 2018 and 2024, and his exit ends his seventh start on the island, the second retirement there after 2019.

Race and the medal table

The men's race was won by Vincent Luis of France in 7:47:27, ahead of Gustav Iden of Norway and Matthew Marquardt of the United States. Jonas Schomburg was the best German in seventh place. Laura Philipp swam poorly but rode through the field to second place, behind Taylor Knibb of the United States. Philipp's silver completes her set of world championship medals: she took bronze in Hawaii in 2023 and 2025 and won the title in Nice in 2024. Philipp was quoted by ZDF saying she was extremely happy and that it felt almost like a victory.

I am extremely happy, it feels almost like a victory.

Philipp receives 65,000 US dollars for the silver and a further 200,000 US dollars for winning the Ironman Pro Series. Her coach and husband Philipp Seipp praised her performance.

Lange's helper role

After his withdrawal, Lange appeared in a helper T-shirt at a feeding station and told ZDF he wanted to give energy back to the course and make things easier for those finishing.

If I cannot respect the finish line, then I at least want to give back the energy here on the course.

What comes next

Lange's coach described the outcome as a case of the "other side of the medal", and former Hawaii winner Anne Haug, working as a TV expert, called it "very bitter". Lange has announced that his final race will be Challenge Roth next July.