Germany's Patrick Lange broke the course record and won the Ironman Kona World Championship for the third time – his first in six years – and became the second oldest man to win the title.

Lange, 38, clocked an unofficial 7 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds in the 140.6-mile race (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) on Hawaii's Big Island. He beat Magnus Ditlev from Denmark with 7:46 minutes.

Lange broke the course record of 7:40:24 set by Norwegian Gustav Iden when Kona hosted the final men's world championship race in 2022.

The men's course record has been lowered in the last five editions of Kona since 2017. Before the 2017 race, the course record was 8:03:56.

Lange was in 13th place after the 112-mile bike ride, 9:06 minutes behind defending champion Sam Laidlow of France.

Lange managed a marathon of 2:37:34, just shy of the course record of 2:36:15 set by Iden in 2022.

Laidlow broke his own 2022 cycle course record of 4:04:36 by completing the 112 miles in 3:57:22. A total of seven men were faster than the previous cycling record.

But Laidlow struggled early in the run and stopped just before the 11-mile mark, just before Lange passed him.

Laidlow finished 18th with a time of 8:02:01, a time that would have been a course record in 2017. He ran his marathon in 3:12:49.

Lange claimed his third Ironman Kona title after claiming back-to-back victories in 2017 and 2018. He is the second oldest men's Ironman world champion of all time after Australia's Craig Alexander, who won the last of his three titles in 2011 at age 38.

Last year, at age 24, Laidlow became the youngest Ironman world champion in men's history with a win in Nice, France.

The Ironman World Championship was held exclusively in Hawaii from its inception in 1978 until 2019.

Since last year, organizers have been splitting the men's and women's races alternately, one in Nice and the other on Hawaii's Big Island, until 2026.

This change was made so that the two drivers could have a “focused” racing experience.

On September 22nd, Germany's Laura Philipp won the Women's Ironman World Championship in Nice.

2024 Ironman Kona World Championship results

1. Patrick Lange (GER) – 7:35:53 CR
2. Magnus Ditlev (DEN) – 7:43:39
3. Rudy Von Berg (USA) – 7:46:00
4. Leon Chevalier (FRA) – 7:46:54
5. Menno Koolhaas (NED) – 7:47:22
6. Gregory Barnaby (ITA) – 7:48:22
7. Cameronwurf (AUS) – 7:51:26
8. Kieran Lindars (GBR) – 7:51:55
9. Kristian Høgenhaug (DEN) – 7:53:37
10. Matt Hanson (USA) – 7:54:50
18. Sam Laidlow (FRA) – 8:02:01

Katie Zaferes will retire from triathlon after her next race.