Patrick Lange and Kristian Blummenfelt both take the Redemption Express into Kona, in many respects. Blummenfelt is now aiming for long-course victory after being disappointed by the 2024 Olympics in Paris. And Lange stepping onto the starting line following a year filled with disappointment and heartache.
Aside from their pursuit of atonement, these elite athletes share the experience of winning the title on the platform of an IRONMAN World Championship. So, if it came down to a head-to-head match in the IRONMAN World Championship this weekend on the Big Island of Kona, with hopes, aspirations and a world title on the line, who would win? Lange or Blummenfelt?
Jenny Lucas-Hill of TRI247 examines how the two former champions compare and attempts to use crystal ball magic to forecast how things might turn out.
Can Big Blu win in Kona by defeating double champion Patrick Lange?
Blummenfelt would undoubtedly be the front-runner here if the saying “you’re only as good as your last IRONMAN race” applied. In actuality, though, things are a little more complex than that. Let’s examine how these competitors have fared thus far in 2024 and how that may affect the enthusiasm they bring to the starting line of the IRONMAN Kona this weekend.
Race results and form for Kristian Blummenfelt in 2024:
You can see how unbelievably remarkable Blummenfelt’s triathlon resume is. The Norwegian sensation made short-course triathlon history in 2021 by winning the World Triathlon Championship final, the Olympic title, and the World Triathlon Championship in the same year. He added a 70.3 World Champion title to his collection later in the year, and he went on to win the postponed 2021 IRONMAN World Championship St George the following year, extending his success.
Big Blu, as he is now called, appeared to be unfailing. However, his aspirations to have it all and his ambitious schedules have crumbled in recent years. His best short-course result in 2024 was 10th place at Yokohama, and he hasn’t placed on the short-course triathlon podium since August 2022. The Bergen sensation only placed 12th at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, ending his aspirations of defending his Olympic crown.
The praised “Norwegian Method” began to be questioned, although the enquiries were short-lived. A little more than two weeks after that Parisian crash, Blummenfelt put on an INSANE performance at IRONMAN Frankfurt, proving that he still has it. Maybe he just needs a little more pavement to work with these days. Blummenfelt quickly surged to the top of the race after starting T2 about five minutes behind race leader Kristian Hogenhaug.
His stride was unaffected by the stomach fireworks, which included him demonstrating some impressive projectile vomiting and diving for a port-a-potty. With an incredible marathon split of 2 hours and 32 minutes and an absurdly quick overall finish time of 7:27:21, he swept to victory. We have to question how powerful the Norwegian Tour de Force might be on the Big Island, given that he only had to finish the race to secure his Kona spot—winning it wasn’t even necessary.
For breakfast, Kristian Blummenfelt consumes “impossible.”
If we were discussing someone other than Kristian, you would be dismissing him as a one-hit wonder based on his results from the previous year, which included only one exceptional performance and numerous failures. This isn’t just anybody, though. Blu has often shown that he is capable of defying the odds. Do you recall that crazy racing schedule from August of last year?
After finishing third at the PTO US Open on August 4, Kristian recovered to finish ninth at the Paris Olympics Test Event two weeks later. Two days later, he immediately boarded another jet to compete in the PTO Asian Open, where he won in Singapore. and then, a week later, made it to the starting line for the 70.3 Worlds in Finland. Such a timetable would have been unfeasible for the majority of athletes. However, sportsman Kristian Blummenfelt consumes impossible for breakfast.
Patrick Lange 2024 race results and form
Patrick Lange, the 2017 and 2018 Kona double IRONMAN World Champion, has had a disappointing start to the 2024 season.
Lange made the decision to concentrate on the IRONMAN Pro Series rather than accept the offer of a T100 contract. He finished back in 16th place at 70.3 Oceanside in the season opener. An eventual victory at IRONMAN Texas in April was to provide delayed redemption. Tomás Rodríguez Hernández won the race at first, but Lange won it a few months later after a doping infraction was discovered and a ban was upheld.
The loss in Texas must have hurt at the time. Speaking to TRI247 about Rodriguez at the Challenge Roth pre-race press conference, Lange expressed disappointment at not being able to compete him again. This was before the news of the Mexican athlete’s doping ban broke, but after we learnt that he would not be starting for Roth after all. “Because he clearly defeated me in a race that holds great significance for me, as Texas was my first-ever IRONMAN,” he stated. I was somewhat moved by the loss and believed that this was an excellent opportunity for retaliation.
“It’s heartbreaking to have that magical moment of crossing the finish line as the winner taken away in such an unfair way,” Lange said later in the year after winning the race after Rodriguez’s suspension.
