Home favourite Anne Haug rewrote the record books with the fastest-ever women’s full-distance time of 8:02:38 as she won Challenge Roth for a third time.
Twelve months ago in the same race, Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf had shattered Chrissie Wellington’s long-standing mark by almost ten minutes when she clocked eight hours, eight minutes and 21 seconds.
The scale of that performance led many to suggest that it too could last for years but Haug, who had chased Ryf home that day, had other ideas.
She was ahead of schedule on the bike and with her famed run speed to come it became a matter of how much she would knock off rather than if she would break it.
She even managed to sprint at the end as she crossed the finish line nearly six minutes quicker than Ryf’s time – and all after a late change of plan which only saw the 41-year-old added to the field at the start of the week!
Fellow German Laura Philipp came home in second in 8:14:13, the third fastest time in history, with Els Visser (NED) completing the podium in third.
And there was also a record-breaking performance in the men’s race, which was won by Magnus Ditlev – click here for that report.
Swim – Haug to the fore from the start
There was a surprise in the swim – which took place in calm and perfect conditions when the race got under way at 6.37am local time – when Britain’s Abi Bedwell was out of the water first.
It was only by two seconds though to Haug and local favourite Rebecca Robisch.
It was then 22 seconds back to Johanna Ahrens (GER) and a minute and upwards to the rest.
Of the other pre-race favourites, Philipp was at +2:39, with Visser right alongside her.
Bike – Masterclass from Haug
Robisch was actually first out of T1 but Haug moved to the front at the 5km mark and it was a lead she never looked like relinquishing.
But there was a good battle in behind between Robisch, Philipp and Visser and they were still altogether at the halfway point.
Robisch was the first to drop back but it was still a terrific performance from her.
But all the time, Haug was forging further and further clear and a 4:27:58 bike split meant that if she could replicate any of her previous three Roth marathon times then the record would belong to her.
All this remember was on wet roads after steady rainfall during the morning.
In behind, Philipp was second into T2 at +5:28, just 12 seconds in front of Visser, with Robisch at +9:27.
Run – Victory lap for German great
Haug looked super smooth right from the start of the run.
She ran the first 17km at 3:49/km pace and only Philipp was able to go anywhere near to matching that but even she was losing ground, with the gap going up to over seven minutes by halfway.
That went out to over nine minutes before it started to stabilise and meanwhile Visser was dropping backwards and facing a battle to hold onto third.
Haug though was making history – and she did it with a sprint to the finish line too to register a 2:38:52 marathon, a new record for women’s full-distance triathlon and also quicker than the second and third men today.
![Anne Haug wins Challenge Roth 2024 [Photo credit: Simon Fischer | Challenge Roth]](https://www.tri247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Anne-Haug-wins-Challenge-Roth-2024.jpg)
Just under 12 minutes later Philipp followed Haug across the line for second, while Visser finished strong to hold off Anne Reischmann and prevent an all-German podium.
Challenge Roth 2024 Results (Women)
Sunday 7 July 2024 – 3.8km / 180km / 42.2km
- 1. Anne Haug (GER) – 8:02:38 (52:37 / 4:27:58 / 2:38:52)
- 2. Laura Philipp (GER) – 8:14:13 (55:14 / 4:30:47 / 2:44:34)
- 3. Els Visser (NED) – 8:24:47 (55:17 / 4:31:02 / 2:55:25)
- 4. Anne Reischmann (GER) – 8:26:07
- 5. Danielle Lewis (USA) 8:26:50
- 6. Katrine Græsbøll Christensen (DEN) – 8:34:55
- 7. Rebecca Robisch (GER) – 8:36:51
- 8. Laura Zimmermann (GER) – 8:40:43
- 9. Julia Skala (GER) – 8:43:54
- 10. Tina Pohjalainen (FIN) – 8:45:10
