PANAMA CITY BEACH (Florida Sports Wire) – Florida’s Panhandle and the pristine Gulf of Mexico coastline provided a stunning backdrop for the 25th edition of the Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN® Florida triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series.
With many of triathlon’s best on hand, Rudy von Berg (USA) topped the men’s field with an impressive performance and setting a new course best with a time of 7:34:41, topping Gustav Iden’s time in 2021 by over eight minutes. In the women’s professional race, Skye Moench (USA) earned a hard-fought victory finishing with a time of 8:22:29 while also setting a new bike course best for the women with a 4:23:09 bike split. Finishing just behind von Berg in second on the men’s professional podium was Kacper Stepniak (POL), who came in with a finishing time of 7:42:03 and Matthew Marquardt (USA) who rounded out the podium in third with a time of 7:44:27. In the professional women’s race, India Lee (GBR) took second in 8:31:01, while Jocelyn McCauley (USA) finished in third with a time of 8:33:56. Top five professional men’s results:
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | FINISH | ||
| 1. Rudy von Berg | USA | 00:50:45 | 04:00:31 | 02:38:24 | 07:34:41 |
| 2. Kacper Stepniak | POL | 00:50:39 | 04:00:00 | 02:45:41 | 07:42:03 |
| 3. Matthew Marquardt | USA | 00:50:44 | 04:00:30 | 02:47:58 | 07:44:27 |
| 4. Matt Hanson | USA | 00:53:40 | 04:12:47 | 02:34:07 | 07:45:26 |
| 5. Magnus Ditlev | DNK | 00:50:54 | 03:59:03 | 02:52:41 | 07:48:53 |
Top five professional women’s results:
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | FINISH | ||
| 1. Skye Moench | USA | 00:58:42 | 04:23:09 | 02:54:44 | 08:22:29 |
| 2. India Lee | GBR | 00:55:41 | 04:25:39 | 03:03:25 | 08:31:01 |
| 3. Jocelyn McCauley | USA | 00:57:53 | 04:23:57 | 03:06:16 | 08:33:56 |
| 4. Erin Snelgrove | CAN | 01:05:19 | 04:35:11 | 02:58:08 | 08:47:06 |
| 5. Alice Alberts | USA | 00:58:42 | 04:37:16 | 03:06:48 | 08:49:14 |
The 2023 Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN® Florida triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, saw more than 1,900 athletes start the race. Competitors ranged in age from 18-83 years old.
The event led athletes lead athletes along a 2.4-mile swim through the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Once out of the water, athletes took on a 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run on a flat and fast course highlighted by Panama City Beach, the intercoastal waterway, breathtaking views of the North Florida shoreline and an electric finish line inside Pier Park.
The event offered a professional prize purse of $100,000 USD and offered age group qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship with the women racing in Nice, France on Sept. 22 and the men racing in Kona, Hawai`i on Oct. 26. The 2023 Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN Florida triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North American Series will return to Panama City Beach. on Nov. 2, 2024.
It was announced on Friday that IRONMAN and the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau have agreed to a five-year partnership renewal to keep the Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN Florida triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, and the Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast triathlon in Panama City Beach through 2029.
(SportsDay Photo by Nancy DeLander Beecher/Florida Sports Wire) Official results can be found at www.ironman.com/im-florida-results.
