IRONMANIA WEEK: Mirinda Carfrae vs. Daniela Ryf

IRONMANIA WEEK is going strong. We’re acknowledging the amazing rivalry between Mirinda Carfrae and Daniela Ryf last year in Kona, Hawaii. First, lets look back at last year’s showdown between these two stellar women, followed by a run down of these two women’s careers leading up to this weekend’s Ironman World Championships. Remember to tune in this Saturday October 10th for this year’s Ironman Championships – it’s sure to be an amazing ride.

Mirinda Carfrae vs. Daniela Ryf (2014)

Three time Hawaii Ironman Champion Mirinda Carfrae got off the bike last year down by nearly 14 minutes to Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf. Daniela was a past Olympic athlete for Swizerland and was doing her Ironman debut. Daniela had the swim and bike of her life and still had 6 minute lead with ten miles to go in the 2014 Hawaii Ironman Race over a fast charging Mirinda Carfrae. As Daniela the rookie started to falter at 22 miles, Mirinda the past champion gathered steam and ran past her to win one of the epic battles in modern women’s history.  Mirinda ran a staggering 2hrs 50 min 26 second marathon split to eventually take the win in just over 9hrs. Both women are back in 2015, where Daniela’s early season form makes her the odds on favourite to win her first Kona World Championship.

Women to Watch

Miranda and Daniela both have followed similar career paths.  Both women raced on the Olympic circuit for a number of years (1.5km swim – 40km bike – 10km run) before they moved up to the Ironman format.  Miranda tried making the 2004 Athens Olympic Games team and when she came up a bit short made the move up to Ironman racing and was a close second in her first trip to the Hawaii Ironman (ironically Daniela was 2nd last year in her first trip to Kona).   Miranda is perhaps the greatest Ironman runner that has ever competed in the sport.  She regularly out runs the other women by 5-10 minutes and its sometimes only a handful of men who have a faster run split then she does on race day.

Last year Miranda came off the bike nearly 14 minutes behind Daniela Ryf and as the day went on, and Daniela continued to run efficiently, it looked like she Ryf might win the Ironman on her debut.  It took an unbelievable 2hrs 50 min off the bike marathon by Miranda Carfrae and a slight bobble over the last 10km by Ryf for Miranda to win her third Kona of her career.   Danilela’s rookie race was one of the greatest in history.

Ryf was top 8 at the London Olympic Games (where her Swiss team-mate Nicola Spirig won gold).  A tremendous swimmer, Ryf is un-matched on the bike and this year her biking has gone to another new level.   Carfare and Ryf have an interesting coaching connection.   Brett Sutton, the world’s most successful Ironman coach is Daniel’s coach.  He led Chrissy Wellington to her many victories and was also the coach of Siri Lindley when she was winning ITU Olympic Distance Championships in 2001..  Siri Lindley is Miranda’s coach, and many of the strategies she employes in her coaching, are things she learn’t from Brett Sutton. So in some ways its the teacher (Sutton) and his former student (Lindley) both trying to develop their own 2015 Kona Champion.

Carfrae will have to play catch up all day long. Its not unreasonable for her to lose 3-5 minutes to Ryf out of the water and another 5-10 minutes off the bike.  Nobody is doubting Miranda’s ability to run the fastest times ever, the only problem in 2015 is the Ryf is running only 5-6 minutes slower over the marathon and unless show blows up or Carfare has the bike of her life, its quite possible that Daniela Ryf could have the greatest Ironman season in history.  Ryf recently destroyed every woman in the world in the 70.3 World Champs in Austria where she won by over 10 minutes.  She also has won the first two  70.3 Races in a million dollar Series  (if she wins the third race in Nov she will be the first triathlete to ever win a million dollars in one race).  If she adds a Kona victory in, the sport would have to consider her and ITU World Champion Gwen Jorgensen as the two greatest triathletes of their era.

Who do you think will be the frontrunner at this year’s World Championships? Let us know in the comment section below.