Laura Siddall (GBR) and Ronnie Schildknecht (CHE) Earn Victories in The HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR16 Pro Challenge

July 24, 2020

- Over 5,000 athletes from 111 nations registered to compete in three division format for IRONMAN VR16 - Just under 800 age-group athletes registered to compete in the third edition of the four-week long HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series - Over 113,000 people from around the globe have now joined IRONMAN Virtual Club platform

TAMPA, Fla. (July 24, 2020) – Laura Siddall from Great Britain and Ronnie Schildknecht from Switzerland earned victories during the 16th edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN^® VR™ Pro Challenge in the professional women’s and men’s races, respectively. Friday’s race positioned six professional athletes, three women and three men, for a head-to-head-to-head on a 90km bike ride on the IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid bike course, utilizing Official Virtual Cycling partner ROUVY’s augmented reality. The athletes undertook a 5km run recorded at multiple training locations in their home communities that was aired halfway through the 90k bike ride during the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge broadcast.

In the professional women’s race, Laura Siddall (GBR) emerged victorious in her first HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge appearance, finishing with an overall time of 2:40:30. Behind Siddall, the 2017 IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Champion Katharina Grohmann (DEU) finished in second with a time of 2:47:31 while five-time IRONMAN 70.3 Champion Kelsey Withrow (USA) rounded out the group in third with a time of 2:50:09.

Professional women’s results:

 In the professional men’s race, 11-time IRONMAN champion Ronnie Schildknecht (CHE) provided a dominant performance, finishing the bike and run in a time of 2:28:43. Multi-time IRONMAN podium finisher Marc Dülsen (DEU) followed in second place with a combined time of 2:33:59. Chris Schroeder (USA), an IRONMAN U Certified Coach, took third position with an overall finishing time of 2:55:12.

Professional men’s results:

The full broadcast of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR16 Pro Challenge can be viewed, HERE.

In total, over 5,000 athletes from more than 111 nations and 49 states set out to participate in IRONMAN VR16. The IRONMAN 70.3 half-distance simulation requires athletes to complete a 5km Run, 90km Ride, and 21km Run between Friday, July 24 at 6 a.m. ET (10 p.m. GMT) and race close, Sunday, July 26 at 7:59 p.m. ET (11:59 p.m. GMT). Competitors who race in the IRONMAN VR16 Classic division can do the three race segments anywhere, indoors or outdoors, in any order and are not required to do the segments consecutively.

The nearly 800 athletes who registered for the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series are bound by a different set of rules over a four-week long regulated age-group competition designed to reward top-performing athletes in a structured and competitive virtual environment. An athlete’s overall standing is based upon their top three performances in aggregate over a four-week period. Athletes competing will have the opportunity to earn race slots to the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship with a total of 75 qualifying slots allocated across age groups for top performers.

IRONMAN VR16 leaderboard updates can be found by visiting the IRONMANVR Facebook Page.

Bringing the IRONMAN community together virtually, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Club™ continues to grow and now has over 113,000 members on the platform with thousands completing IRONMAN Virtual Club Challenges since its recent launch.

Full details and specifics regarding the IRONMAN Virtual Club are available on www.ironmanvirtualclub.com. For questions about the IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series, athletes can email ironmanvr@ironman.com. For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media related inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series^®, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, ITU World Triathlon Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf^® presented by Westpac, Ultra-Trail^® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.