How to watch the women’s 2025 Ironman World Championship in Kona

This coming weekend sees the 2025 Ironman World Championships returning to Kona, Hawaii, where the world’s toughest elite and age-group female triathletes will battle it out on the gruelling 140.6mile course. Fans worldwide can tune into the iconic event taking place against the backdrop of the iconic lava fields and crystal blue waters – here’s everything you need to know.

It’s been two years since the Ironman World Championship took place on different days, in two different locations.

The first, the men’s elite and age-group races, took place on 10 September 2023 in Nice, France, where Frenchman Sam Laidlow took the win.

The women’s elite and age-group races then kicked off on 14 October 2023 in Kona, Hawaii, where Lucy Charles-Barclay finally took that long-awaited win after four consecutive runner-up finishes.

The following year, it flipped, so the women went off first in Nice on 22 September – and Germany’s Laura Philipp reigned victorious – before the men returned to Kona on 26 October. There, Patrick Lange won his third title with a new course record time of 7:35:53.

This year, the men’s race took place in Nice on 14 September, where it was a winning Norwegian trio on the podium topped by Casper Stornes, who took the tape in a time of 7:51:39.

Next up, it’s the women’s 2025 world championship race in Kona, Hawaii on 11 October. For better or for worse, this year is the last time that the race will be played out across two different venues, as both the men’s and women’s champs are set to return to its original one-day format in Kona from 2026.

So here’s everything you need to know for the women’s race in Kona and most importantly, how to watch the Ironman World Championship…

Who is racing the 2025 women’s Ironman World Championship?

The final women’s professional start list has been announced for the showdown in Kona and it’s a star-studded line-up including reigning champion and Ironman record-holder Laura Philipp, previous winners Lucy Charles-Barclay and Chelsea Sodaro, plus Sub-8 iron-distance unofficial record holder Kat Matthews.

2025 Pro Women Ironman World Championship Qualifiers

Below you’ll find the official start list for the pro women, along with their assigned bib numbers, so you can follow on the day:

1. Laura Philipp, Germany (DEU)
2. Kat Matthews, United Kingdom (GBR)
3. Chelsea Sodaro, United States (USA)
4. Marjolaine Pierré, France (FRA)
5. Lucy Charles-Barclay, United Kingdom (GBR)
6. Taylor Knibb, United States (USA)
7. Marta Sanchez, Spain (ESP)
8. Penny Slater, Australia (AUS)
9. Lotte Wilms, The Netherlands (NLD)
10. Jackie Hering, United States (USA)
11. Hannah Berry, New Zealand (NZL)
12. Anne Reischmann, Germany (DEU)
14. Regan Hollioake, Australia (AUS)
16. Solveig Løvseth, Norway (NOR)
17. India Lee, United Kingdom (GBR)
18. Julie Derron, Switzerland (CHE)
19. Katrine Græsbøll, Christensen Denmark (DNK)
20. Lisa Perterer, Austria (AUT)
21. Marlene De Boer, The Netherlands (NLD)
22. Julie Iemmolo, France (FRA)
23. Skye Moench, United States (USA)
24. Danielle Lewis, United States (USA)
25. Tamara Jewett, Canada (CAN)
26. Laura Jansen, Germany (DEU)
27. Maja Stage Nielsen, Denmark (DNK)
28. Alice Alberts, United States (USA)
29. Henrike Güber, Germany (DEU)
30. Jenny Jendryschik, Germany (DEU)
31. Rebecca Clarke, New Zealand (NZL)
32. Charlene Clavel, France (FRA)
33. Sara Svensk, Sweden (SWE)
34. Rebecca Anderbury, United Kingdom (GBR)
35. Gabrielle Lumkes, United States (USA)
36. Holly Lawrence, United Kingdom (GBR)
38. Stephanie Clutterbuck, United Kingdom (GBR)
39. Jana Uderstadt, Germany (DEU)
41. Leonie Konczalla, Germany (DEU)
42. Haley Chura, United States (USA)
43. Jocelyn McCauley, United States (USA)
44. Diede Diederiks, The Netherlands (NLD)
45. Katie Remond, Australia (AUS)
46. Fiona Moriarty, Ireland (IRL)
47. Jodie Robertson, United States (USA)
48. Alexandra Watt-Shannon, United States (USA)
49. Jeanne Collonge, France (FRA)
50. Lottie Lucas, United Arab Emirates (ARE)
51. Els Visser, The Netherlands (NLD)
52. Merle Brunnée, Germany (DEU)
53. Nina Derron, Switzerland (CHE)
54. Justine Mathieux, France (FRA)
55. Rachel Olson, United States (USA)
56. Annamarie Strehlow, United States (USA)
57. Julia Skala, Germany (DEU)
58. Bruna Stolf, Brazil (BRA)
59. Elisabetta Curridori, Italy (ITA)
60. Katie Colville, United States (USA)

The 2025 Kona Ironman World Championship course

The 3.8km swim course

The 3.8km (2.4 mile) open-water swim is set in the azure waters of Kailua Bay, Kona. Setting off from a deep water start just off the white sandy beaches of Kailua, our pro women will swim a long, out-and-back clockwise route that tracks parallel to the coastline off Ali’i Drive.

The farthest point of the 3.8km total swim course will be marked by a turn boat, which athletes will reach after 1840m before turning back towards the shore for the final 1970m, after which athletes will head straight into transition on Kailua Pier.

The Pacific is known to be tumultuous with strong currents, let’s hope for calm weather this weekend for our female elites.

The 180.2km bike course

The one-loop 180.2km (112 mile) bike course starts in the heart of Kailua-Kona from transition location on the pier. From there, cyclists will do a short 2.3mi lap of the town followed by a 4.6mi out-and-back stretch along Kuakini Highway.

After that little warm-up, athletes will leave Kailua behind them and head north along the legendary Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, also known as Queen K, towards the turn-around point at Hawi on Kona’s northern tip. This is also the highest point of the route at 623ft above sea level.

Then, it’s a mere matter of retracing steps to return back to Kailua and into run transition. While there will be plenty of stunning scenery to take in across lava fields and ocean, this course is brutal, thanks to challenging climbs and intensely exposed cross-winds. The bike course has a total elevation gain of 4180ft/1274m.

With plenty of aid stations en route and stunning visas, fans will equally have a few opportunities to spot the pros as they hash out the challenge bike leg.

The 42.2km run course

The final leg of the world championship course is an out-and-back route that starts with a 7.2 mile stretch along Ali’i Drive.

Returning back to Kona town, athletes will then tackle the hill out of town onto the long Queen K Highway leading to the HOST park just before the turn-around point. The final descent back into Kailua-Kona cumulates in a victory lap around the town before crossing the finish line.

It’s an ideal course for spectators, the multiple out and back sections promising to be packed with fans cheering on our new world champion.

When does the women’s 2025 Ironman World Championship race start*?

*All times below are local (HAST), which is 10hr behind the UK (BST).

Saturday 11 October

7:25am – Pro women start
7:40am – Age-group women first wave start

How to watch the 2025 women’s Ironman World Championship

For the women’s championship race, live race-day coverage will be broadcast across multiple platforms for global viewers, including proseries.ironman.com, DAZN, YouTube, Outside TV (exclusively for the US and Canada), L’Équipe in France and ZDF in Germany. 

You can also follow the athletes along on the excellent Athlete Tracker App.

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