Magnus Ditlev experienced a triumphant return in Panama City Beach, where he set a new world record with a finishing time of 7:19:17. This victory comes just four weeks after he withdrew from the IRONMAN World Championship, securing his place for a return to the Big Island next year.
We had the opportunity to speak with Ditlev to gain insight into his remarkable performance and his current mindset.
Reflections on Kona and the World Record
Congratulations! You must feel a mix of happiness and redemption after Kona.
Magnus Ditlev: Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely a nice way to bounce back and end the season, but it still doesn’t take away what happened four weeks ago. It’s really nice that I ended up winning and breaking the record and everything, but Kona was my biggest focus, my big shot at the win there. I’m still thinking about that a lot.
That makes sense. Does it add to the frustration, knowing how fit you were?
Yeah. Everyone has said to me now, “You’ve really confirmed how fit you are. It must be so nice going into next season.” But I already got that signal in Kona, that I was back from all the sickness I’d had. It wasn’t that I wasn’t in shape to win the race; it was overheating. So I knew after Kona that I was in really good shape. And, as you said, it’s just so frustrating and disappointing that I couldn’t make it. But we’ll have to wait for another year.
Staying Positive Through Challenges
Given your strong commitment to Kona, I can imagine the past two years have been difficult. How have you managed to stay positive through these challenges?
It’s been really hard, actually. It’s been a big struggle. You start to wonder if you’ve lost your level, or what’s going on. And it’s not a fun feeling, because you don’t feel that you can trust your body. Before, I could always rely on it; I knew I’d be able to push. Last season there was a lot of weird stuff, with the punctures in St. George, the penalty in Frankfurt, and then pneumonia before Nice. This year, after I got shingles before Texas, it’s just been so weird how my body let me down in the races in Frankfurt and Roth. I thought I was in quite good shape, but when I wanted to push as I normally could, there was nothing left. That was quite worrying, and it’s been hard to trust the process.
Fortunately, I have a great coach (Jens Petersen-Bach) and a supportive team around me who helped lift my spirits. I’m proud that, even during my doubts, I didn’t let them affect my training decisions. I always tried to do what I thought was right. It’s been a long journey back, and I’m just really happy that I can push again and have a body that’s responding to training the way it was before.
Focus on Future Goals
Does this victory change your focus on Kona?
Not really. Everyone has said how calm I am about breaking the record yesterday, but in my head, I’d already had the world record twice in Roth before. It’s of course really nice, but the big thing I’m missing is a world championship title. I’m the kind of person who likes to focus. You can see it a bit in how I race: I don’t go to every race all through the season. I pick my races, and I really enjoy preparing for performances. Of course I enjoy racing, that’s what we do, but I also enjoy the process of getting to the race and optimizing everything around it. That’s how I operate. I’d rather focus on fewer targets that really mean something to me personally, and right now that’s Kona.
You previously mentioned that your success is a result of an incredible team. Do you feel like you have built a solid support network over the years?
Yeah. That’s probably one of my strengths. People just see the result on paper; they don’t see how the works. I’ve always tried to surround myself with knowledgeable people. If there’s an area where I feel we’re not sharp enough, where we lack a bit of understanding, I’m not afraid to seek out expertise. A lot of people see that as a weakness. Some coaches never allow other people into their system because they see it as a weakness, but we’re really open and always trying to learn from different experts, in the areas we feel are the next step in my development. That has changed throughout the years. It could be a swim coach dedicated just to me, or working with two engineers on the bike tech side, or whatever it is. We always try to keep an open approach and see where we can improve.
Can you share your experience of the race? With your past performances in Roth, it seemed almost effortless. Is that how it felt for you?
My experience is that it comes down very much to the individual race and the day you have. Some days it can hurt the whole day, but you still manage to stay in it. In Kona in 2024 I was hurting like I’ve never hurt before in a race, but I still managed to finish second. And some days it can feel effortless and you’re just on a flyer. Yesterday was definitely one of those. It sounds wrong to say it was the easiest IRONMAN I’ve done, but I felt so much in control the whole race. It was quite crazy, to be honest.
I believe that having a substantial lead on the bike contributed to your success. Did you notice the gap growing as the race progressed?
I think it’s because I got the gap I needed on the bike immediately, and I could see the gap just growing. Nobody was chasing me in that way, so I was able to control everything 100%. The energy you have goes up and down all day, so some moments you feel better than others. When you have a big gap, you have the luxury of easing off a bit in the rougher patches, and then five minutes later you feel good again and you’re back to pushing. That’s not how the world championship is raced, and it’s why you see so many people, including myself, blowing up. The racing is so tight that, while you try to do your own race, you also have to react to what’s going on around you.
It appeared that your day was set up from the swim. Did you feel that way? Were your splits what you expected?
It was a beach start, and I think my long legs probably helped me a bit. It was low tide, so we were able to run quite a way, and I got a really good beach start. I was in second position after 200 meters and thought, “Whoa, I’ve never tried that before.” Then I was swimming in third or fourth position for the whole swim. At the Australian exit, everyone was running in the sand, which was really loose and deep, but I saw that they hadn’t set out any cones, so we could run closer to the water, where the sand is much harder. I ran down there, whereas the others ran maybe a meter to the left, where it’s looser. So I overtook everyone on the Australian exit and entered the second lap in first position. I’d never done that before. From then on, I knew my chances of having a good day were high, but you never know with the bike.
Prior to the race, you and your team made predictions about your bike split. Did it match your expectations during the race?
Before the race we’d done some predictions and calculations on the bike split I was likely to do, and we could see it was going to be quick. On the bike I wasn’t focusing on chasing the world record, because if you overpace that early, you can really blow up. I focused on executing the fastest possible bike split, while keeping a little bit in reserve so I could control it. I stayed within my limits, and towards the end I could see it was going to be a really quick bike time. When I saw I had 47 kilometers per hour on average after 160 km, I started wondering. But I wasn’t swimming with a watch, so I didn’t know what time I’d swum, and the first transition is crazy long. So I wasn’t sure what my overall time was going to be going into T2.
When it was time to run, what marathon split did you need to break the world record? Did you consider playing it safe or pushing for the record?
When I started running, I asked my girlfriend what marathon (split) I’d need to break the world record, and she said 2:35. I had the choice of going for that and seeing if I could chase it, or playing it a bit safer and just enjoying it. I decided to push and see if I could break the world record. It felt super smooth on the run, and I’m happy I made that decision.
Reflecting on your experience in Kona, you seemed to struggle during the run. Did you think you would finish?
It went downhill very quickly. Going into the Energy Lab I was feeling quite good. I was starting to feel a little fatigued, but I was probably more than seven hours into the IRONMAN, so you’re supposed to be a bit fatigued by then, and it didn’t feel very different from most of the other IRONMANs I’ve done. But going back up the hill out of the Energy Lab, and especially turning right onto Queen K again, that’s when I really started to struggle. It went downhill very, very quickly from there.
Can you elaborate on the physical sensations you experienced during that race?
It’s something I’ve never felt or experienced before: this kind of heat, or at least that’s what we believe it is, overheating. In a race like Roth or here (IRONMAN Florida), you might slow down a little towards the end because it’s getting harder, but you’re still able to push. Here, my brain was saying I couldn’t even move my legs or arms properly anymore. I think I stopped just before it got really dangerous.
Looking Ahead to Kona
Having finished second in Kona previously, you know you can perform well there. With your recent record, are you now focused on preparing for Kona?
Yeah. Now I have to go home, have a little break, and then evaluate Kona and this race and see what we can take with us for next year. Then we’ll set up a plan. It’s not that I won’t race before Kona, but every decision I make about where I race will be linked to building a season with Kona as the biggest goal. It’s good to race against the best people in the world to gauge where you are, so that could mean choosing a really high-level field, or a race like Texas, where it’s super hot and humid, to test some things out. Now that I have the slot, I have the freedom to set up the season exactly how we want.
So securing the slot was your primary objective for yesterday, and achieving the world record is a significant bonus. But now you’re preparing to endure the challenges again.
Yeah. I swore I would never come back to Kona when I dropped out. I thought it was the worst experience of my life. But there were still so many great takeaways from that race. It’s an iconic race, and I want to be there and see if I’m able to win it. I’m looking forward to it already.
What would it mean for you to finally secure a victory in Kona?
It’s hard to put into words. It would be so emotional. What I did in Kona this year already made me emotional, because I felt it was going so well, until it didn’t. I could almost smell the finish line. Especially after the experience I had this year, if I managed to go back one time and actually win, it would be very, very special.
Taylor Knibb mentioned advice from Paula Newby-Fraser about ensuring you take care of yourself to reach the finish line. Is that something you’ll consider next year?
For sure. You need to make sure you can actually make it to the finish line. It doesn’t matter if you’re first with 2 km to go if you can’t finish. That’s something to take into consideration. But it’s really hard with the heat; it can go downhill so quickly. I thought I was in control, and then you realize, “Oh, I’m in a really bad place now.” We learn every time, and hopefully we can learn from this and not repeat the same mistakes next time.