For the first time in its 40-plus year history, the 2022 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship is taking place as a two-day event – on Thursday, October 6th and Saturday, October 8th.
Following a three-year hiatus from Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, being able to host the IRONMAN World Championship, the pro women’s field lined-up on October 6th. In the women’s pro race, 34 year-old Chelsea Sodaro from Davis, California, became the first American IRONMAN world champion in over 25 years.
The last American female to win prior to Sodaro was the ‘Queen of Kona’, Paula Newby-Fraser who is from Zimbabwe but became a United States citizen prior to winning in 1996. American Karen Smyers won in 1995 breaking a streak from 1985 without a female winner from the United States.
The 2022 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship was a historic day in both triathlon and women’s sport. On a day focusing on elite women, 42 female pro triathletes alongside approximately 2,500 age-group athletes began the race in the aquamarine waters of Kailua Bay, Hawai`i.
