Ironman World Championship: Great Britain's Lucy Charles-Barclay claims silver in first women-only race
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Lucy Charles-Barclay (left) has finished second in the women's Ironman World Championship on four occasions
Great Britain's Lucy Charles-Barclay finished runner-up in the first women-only professional race at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
Californian Chelsea Sodaro, 33, won in eight hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds.
Charles-Barclay, 29 - the 2021 half Ironman world champion - finished in eight hours 42 minutes and 22 seconds.
Germany's Anne Haug came third, in what was the largest elite women's field the race has seen, with 42 competitors at the start line in Kona.
"I knew the calibre of runners and what I'd have to do to stay at the front," Charles-Barclay said after holding off a late challenge from Haug for silver.
"I had to keep digging and doing my own thing. I can't believe I held on for second."
Britons Fenella Langridge and Laura Siddall finished sixth and 10th respectively.
Charles-Barclay had won three Ironman silver medals before claiming her first world title over the 70.3-mile half distance in Utah in 2021.
Taking on the full 140.6 miles in Hawaii on Thursday, Charles-Barclay was first after the swim and led 2021 winner Daniela Ryf by seven minutes.
The 2017, 2018 and 2019 runner-up had only compatriot Langridge for company early on the 112-mile bike ride as favourites Laura Philipp and Sarah Crowley both served five-minute drafting penalties.
Ryf, who was was able to make up a nine-minute deficit to Charles-Barclay during the bike stage in 2018, began to reduce the gap and eventually overtook the British pair before the start of the marathon run.
She led Charles-Barclay by 17 seconds at the start of the run but the Briton regained the lead, only to be passed by rookie Sodaro, who produced a superb run to win by more than eight minutes.
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