The first IRONMAN triathlon of the 2025 European season took place on June 1, 2025 at the Qatar Airways IRONMAN Hamburg European Championship. From an athlete performance and spectator point of view, it did not disappoint.
Records fell as the reigning IRONMAN World Champion, Laura Philipp (DEU), clocked her second victory in Hamburg and made history with the fastest ever IRONMAN time for a female, with a time of 08:03:13.
Second placed Kat Matthews also took the accolade for second fastest ever IRONMAN time recorded with 08:05:13.
Philipp’s previous IRONMAN best time, had only previously been broken by Kat Matthews (GBR) a month ago. The podium was rounded off by Solveig Løvseth who raced a phenomenal 8:12:28, making her the fastest IRONMAN professional woman on debut.
Laura Philipp said “It was absolutely mental, we (Laura and Kat) were kind of glued together for the entire race.
“It was super tough and for a long time it looked like Kat would win. I just tried to remain calm and patient, because a marathon is a long game, and luckily it paid off that I let her go a little bit and just did my own thing. The crowd was crazy, they were screaming, and it was next level cheering that really helped me big time to go all out on the last lap. I am still speechless… I am super super proud.”
