
Sidney Andrew, 22, of Boulder, Colo. (USA) captured the world championship title in the women’s 18-24 age-group at the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon in Nice, France on Saturday, Sept. 7. Approximately 2,000 women were registered to compete in Nice as the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship came to France. With its mix of old-world opulence, year-round sunshine, and stunning seaside scenery, the city of Nice offered competitors ideal conditions for the event.
Andrew completed the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event in 04:58:55 (swim: 27:01; bike: 02:52:18; run: 01:32:05), beating out the top athletes in her age group. The race encompassed a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim in the Roka Swim Course that started at the Quai des Etats-Unis and proceeded with an open-water swim in the Mediterranean Sea, followed by the 56.7-mile (91.3 km) Ventum Bike Course that took athletes through the mountains surrounding Nice, including Col de Vence and villages of France. The event capped off with a two-lap, 13.1-mile (21 km) HOKA ONE ONE Run Course as athletes finished to energetic crowds along Nice’s historic Promenade des Anglais waterfront.
The two-day IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship saw more than 5,500 registered athletes from over 100 countries, regions and territories compete in this world-renowned event, marking the largest field for any IRONMAN 70.3 event to date. Athletes ranged in age from 18 to 80. The world championship event is the culmination of over 110 global events in the IRONMAN 70.3 series where more than 200,000 age-group athletes vied for slots to compete in the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Qualification is already underway for the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship which will rotate to Taupō, New Zealand. Andrew’s victory at the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship on Saturday earns her an automatic bid to the 2020 event in Taupō, where she will have the chance to defend her title.