We all know the big names being talked about in the lead-up to race day: Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, Sam Laidlow, Lucy Charles-Barclay, Taylor Knibb, Solveig Løvseth, and many more.

This article instead looks at some of the most compelling rookies making their debut on the Big Island.

And in terms of how often a rookie has won on debut? Five times in Kona, and twice at other venues: Luc Van Lierde (1996), Chrissie Wellington (2007), Kristian Blummenfelt (2021*), Gustav Iden (2022), Chelsea Sodaro (2022), Casper Stornes (2025), and Solveig Løvseth (2025). So, it’s certainly possible.

(As Løvseth and Iden joked earlier this week, sometimes it can be mentally helpful not knowing exactly what’s coming – or just how challenging this race really is!)

Women’s Race

On the women’s side, the biggest rookie debut in our minds, in terms of true podium potential (as well as the potential for the outright win) is Swiss star Julie Derron.

As Belinda Granger said this week, knowing Brett Sutton, she doesn’t believe he would send an athlete of Derron’s calibre here to compete unless he believed that athlete was truly ready to contend for the win. Derron’s recent 1:13 run split at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice is also a strong indicator of her current form.

Having chatted with Derron ourselves, her mindset seems grounded. She isn’t putting too much pressure on her debut, yet seems ready to go for it. And she’s coached by someone who has guided some of the great Kona champions, including Chrissie Wellington and Daniela Ryf, so Sutton certainly knows how to prepare an athlete for this race.

 

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Paula Findlay is another athlete making her highly anticipated Kona debut, an exciting moment for Canadian fans, especially after her dominant Ironman debut victory in Lake Placid earlier this year. After a brief check-in with Findlay this week, she also seems to be in a great place heading into race day.

We absolutely see her as a top-10 athlete with the potential to break into the top five, and can’t wait to see this star out on course.

 

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Men’s Race

On the men’s side, Vincent Luis was one of Marten Van Riel’s podium picks this week – ahead even of himself. We took that as a pretty strong indication of Luis’ form, especially given that the two are training partners. Luis was fourth in Texas and fifth in Frankfurt this year, two of the most competitive regular-season Ironmans, with Texas in particular receiving extensive commentary for its world championship-calibre field.

And speaking of Texas, Canadian Brock Hoel finished sixth there and represents another rising Canadian long-course star who could absolutely secure a top-five finish here in Kona. Hoel has also spoken about feeling he performs well in the heat. He resides in BC’s Okanagan, where summer training temperatures can get very high, and has historically performed well in hot races.

Another athlete on our minds is Pierre Le Corre. He caught our eye when he finished second at Ironman New Zealand earlier this year in his full-distance debut, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him make an impression here too.