It was a weekend of historic firsts at the 2026 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid, with Paula Findlay (CAN) and Marten Van Riel (BEL) both claiming maiden Ironman victories.

The Canadian middle-distance star – a two-time Olympian, 14-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion and multiple IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship medallist – added another achievement to her decorated career, producing a composed performance to win on her full-distance debut.

“It always feels great to win, but to win something this long is really incredible,” Findlay said after her victory. “When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t even fathom getting to the end, so to get to the end pretty fast with the win is mind-blowing. It is still sinking in. I absolutely love this course, and it was the perfect one for me to do for my first [Ironman].”

Van Riel had raced over the distance before, but Lake Placid provided the stage for his first victory. The Belgian produced a dominant performance from the outset in the non-wetsuit swim before going on to set a new course record.

What happened in the women’s race? 

In the warm waters of Mirror Lake, American Lara Hernandez-Tome led the way out of the swim in 52:13, with Rachel Zilinskas (USA) emerging 1:06 later. More than three minutes back in sixth place was Findlay, making her full-distance debut.

Hernandez-Tome’s lengthy transition, which lasted almost five minutes, allowed her rivals to close the gap before she surrendered the race lead on the bike. It was there that Findlay showcased her strength, steadily working her way through the field. By the 60km mark, the Canadian had powered into the lead at a pace only Spain’s Marta Sanchez could match.

Findlay continued to build momentum and reached T2 having set a new bike course-best time of 4:50:26. Heading onto the marathon, she and Sanchez had broken clear of the rest of the field.

At the five-mile mark, Findlay began to edge away from the Spaniard and, by halfway through the marathon, had extended her advantage to more than a minute. She remained composed over the closing miles despite the inevitable fatigue of her first full-distance race.

Findlay completed the marathon in 2:55:49 to secure victory in 8:47:43, almost four minutes ahead of Sanchez. Zilinskas rounded out the podium in third.

“That last 10km was so hard. I am really proud to finish, and it’s amazing to win, but that was so hard,” said Findlay after her victory. “The first half felt really good and my cadence was up, I felt relaxed, and I felt like I was running well, but it fell a bit apart in the last 10k, which I expected it would. So, I just focused on getting from one aid station to the next.” 

What happened in the men’s race?

Van Riel was immediately at the front during the non-wetsuit swim, only to be edged out in the closing metres by Britain’s Fraser Minnican, who exited the water first in 47:04 – just one second ahead of the Belgian.

Minnican’s lead lasted only moments once they hit the bike course. Van Riel quickly took control at the front, steadily opening a gap over the chasing field.

The Belgian reached T2 still in the lead after a 4:14:46 bike split, although American Matthew Marquardt had reduced the deficit to just 1:18 after posting the fastest ride of the day.

Marquardt continued to apply pressure throughout the marathon, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul Van Riel, who was setting a serious pace, on track to achieve a 2:34:49 marathon. The Belgian crossed the line in a course-record time of 7:41:57 to secure his first Ironman victory, with Marquardt finishing second and fellow American Ben Kanute taking third.

“Matthew really made me work for it,” said Van Riel at the finish line. “I had a really rough patch at the end of the bike and at the start of the run. I was running quite fast, because even Matthew was catching me a bit and was thinking ‘What am I going to have to do to beat this guy?’”

Lead image: LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK – JULY 19: Paula Findlay of Canada celebrates as she crosses the finish line in first place to win the Women’s Professional division of the 2026 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid on July 19, 2026 in Lake Placid, New York. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for IRONMAN)