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Roll back to a May weekend in 2022, when Germany’s Laura Philipp set a new Ironman world-best time in Hamburg. A few hundred miles southeast, Britain’s Kat Matthews also set a record – albeit with a dedicated pace-line of cyclists – to become the first woman to break 8 hours at the iron distance through the Sub8 Project.
That day sparked a debate over whose performance was better: Matthews, posting 7:31:54 while drafting on a race track, or Philipp, taking the tape in 8:18:20 and missing Chrissie Wellington’s then-record for the Iron distance by just seven seconds.
“I think it was also the day where the rivalry between me and Kat began,” Philipp tells Triathlete. Judging by last weekend, it has certainly blossomed since. We’ve seen this play out in multiple configurations, including last year’s Ironman World Championship in Nice, where the two played cat-and-mouse over the mountains and promenades of France before Philipp pulled ahead to take her first world championship title. Or in April, where Matthews laid claim to the Ironman world-best time with an 8:10:34 in Texas.
Sunday was a day of more records. This time, Matthews was just two minutes behind Philipp in Hamburg as the German reclaimed the world-best step by breaking Matthews’ record by more than seven minutes, clocking an 8:03:13.
The numbers alone don’t do justice to the Philipp-Matthews rivalry, though. The two boast similar race styles with little between them in ability. Philipp, four years older, leads in head-to-head matchups (five to four) and can claim bragging rights in all three full-distance contests. The latest in Hamburg was the quickest yet, but was it just a fast day on a fast course? After all, Norway’s Solveig Lovseth finished in 8:12:28 for third place for the fastest-ever debut at the distance.
Yes, but it wasn’t the only factor.
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Laura Philipp: the ultimate target
“It’s still kind of mind-blowing because it is a lot of time [taken off], but I’m also a very different athlete – I know I’m way better,” Philipp says. “I’ve felt pressure at other races, but it felt like Kat was only concentrating on me for the entire time, and this is something I have never experienced before. It created a really interesting dynamic and this super-intense kind of flow state.”
Matthews led out the 2.4-mile swim with the world champion on her feet, and they rode within seconds of one another for most of the 112-mile bike leg until the Brit forged a small gap heading into T2. The four-lap marathon, narrow in parts and increasingly congested, saw Philipp stalk her prey from a distance before making the pass five miles from the finish.
“It became so clear that it was basically us racing each other,” Philipp adds. “I think from the moment Kat realized that she couldn’t get rid of me in the swim, it was clear that if nothing happened that was out of our hands, it would be a showdown. That definitely helped me to step into the unknown on the run.”
Mind games and a record-breaking Ironman marathon
Philipp’s 2:38:27 marathon wasn’t just a step into the unknown for the 38-year-old, but another barrier broken in women’s Ironman racing – the first sub-2:40 in an M-Dot race (countrywoman Anne Haug ran 2:38:52 in Challenge Roth last year).
“We do a lot of testing, and we felt like I’m able to run sub-2:40, but to do it in an Ironman still feels crazy. I was seeing the splits and knew there was a high risk that it wasn’t sustainable. The funny thing is that because I was so concentrated, it was one of the long-distance races that went by the fastest.” A fact the record books can also confirm.
The smart tactic on the run was to hold back so as not to run shoulder-to-shoulder with Matthews, as had been the case for the first half of the Ironman World Championship marathon last summer.
“Nice was a wide course with a lot of space. Hamburg is a lot narrower with twists and turns,” Philipp explains. “Kat is definitely bringing something new to triathlon in terms of psychology and tactics. She started those games with me in Nice. For example, we had a lot of wind on the course, so she was moving around me to always be in the best position.
“It’s a bit annoying and I’m not sure how much energy it takes out of her to do those things, but having this in my mind, I think it was easier [to stay back], but obviously it was also a risk because she was leading.”
When the pass was made with five miles remaining, Philipp knew she had one card left to play. “From the moment I overtook, I was like, ‘Oh shit! Now I have to go because she will try everything.’ It was really tough to get a gap. I was telling myself not to look back. There was one turnaround and it was still like 15-20 seconds, which is nothing again against someone who has a lot of foot speed, especially over short distances. I couldn’t run a 5K against Kat, I would lose big time. Then the heavy rain started, and we couldn’t see anything, so I had no idea where she was.”
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See it, do it – then again, even faster
A crashed bike computer meant Philipp had no gauge of pace or power on the cycle leg, nor an idea of the finish time when she strode through the downpour to the line. But once she looked up at the clock, she did have a clearer idea of what was possible.
“One thing is to see someone else do something,” she says. “Kat [in Texas in April] or Anne [in Roth] and so on. This helps you know it’s possible. But to do it yourself is the next level.”
As Philipp’s attention turns to July’s Challenge Roth, then the Ironman World Championship race in Hawaii come October, the scary notion for rivals is that there’s still clear room for improvement. Despite a personal record split of 4:23:38, she admits that deliberations on the bike leg as to who would take a pull at the front meant they could have gone even faster.
Moreover, Philipp arrived in Hamburg following a win at Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau the previous weekend, a race she has won for the past three years, including 2022, where she last completed the Kraichgau-Hamburg double (having been forced to miss the Ironman World Championship in St. George due to COVID).
“When we drove to Hamburg on Thursday, I could still feel [fatigue in] my quads. I usually have my last physio treatment by Wednesday, and then I don’t want someone touching my legs, but I was still getting treatment on Saturday. It took away a bit of confidence, but pre-race nerves play a role, and sometimes what you feel is not how it will be on race day.”
A team effort
A physiotherapist by training herself, Philipp turns to four other therapists, including osteopaths and a massage specialist, to keep her in shape. She struggles to put a total number on the support crew that even includes an advisor for neural stimulus, given how the body follows the brain’s instructions.
It’s a set-up that has evolved and thrived under husband and lead coach Philipp Seipp since the relative latecomer has built her career over the last decade, culminating in a first world title last year.
“Triathlon is so complex, and the hardest part is to keep improving, especially if you’re at a certain level,” Philipp reflects. “But it’s still important to always ask: ‘Is there anywhere we could still become better?’ And at the end, that’s also the fun part, I guess, because it keeps it interesting.”
Could Laura Philipp break eight hours in Roth?
Will Challenge Roth on Sunday, July 6, be the venue where the elusive eight-hour barrier is broken for the first time? The recruitment of the women in the professional field makes it look like a dedicated attempt. Philipp is the out-and-out favorite, and on paper, at least, it looks like her against the clock. It’s not that simple, though.
“Honestly, I can’t give you an answer today. Sure, the Hamburg performance will be a strong stimulus, and I want to recover well, then we will go to St. Moritz to do an altitude training camp, and I think it will be interesting to see how I’m doing.
“But maybe also I don’t go too crazy because I want to go crazy in Kona, right? I think the most important thing is to not overdo something before October and to stay healthy. If it’s a super hot day, maybe it also makes no sense to try, but obviously it’s tempting because I want to know if I can do it, and it would be super cool to be the first one.”
It’s not just conditions but race dynamics that play into record-setting days, and it’s here that Philipp – who finished 12 minutes behind Haug in Roth last year – voices concern.
“We are starting to get to a professional level where we have women–only races, but if you look at races in the past, so often things happened that had an effect on time and race outcome. Anne showed that it’s possible to be super fast in Roth, but I also know that she had a really good rolling group with pro men, and I think that definitely helped her to go fast on the bike,” Philipp says. “I know it wasn’t her fault, but you just end up in situations. I had a deep conversation with Felix [Walchshofer, Challenge Roth chief executive] about the race dynamics of last year, because they definitely upset me. I said I would come back if you make bigger gaps [between the pro men and pro women] and secure fair racing. And he said he would.”
Fueling the Philipp-Matthews rivalry
Philipp says she invited Matthews to Roth at the Hamburg awards ceremony for some extra motivation. It would be another thrilling installment to the rivalry, but with Matthews’ eyes also fixed on Hawaii, the next re-match might need to wait until the fall. When it happens, there will be even greater expectations.
“Getting feedback from the weekend, there were so many people who said they watched the whole thing, and they never did before,” Philipp says, having even received a call from German TV bosses thanking her for an eye-catching surge in broadcasting numbers. “They got hooked because we were so close and it seemed so intense. I think this is what people want to see. I’m not saying this is what athletes want, because it definitely feels nicer to have a big gap and to run comfortably. But I also understand that with a ‘boring’ sport like triathlon, this makes things more exciting – especially to bring more women into the sport.
“If we look towards Kona, it won’t be just the two of us, and I think that’s also good, because I think Kat will also race differently; she won’t have this hyper-focus on me.”
Injury and illness notwithstanding, she will head to Hawaii with a “special” feeling of wearing bib number one, and more favored than any time she’s raced there previously. As reigning world champion, coupled with a third-place (2023) and two fourth-place (2022, 2019) finishes, her Big Island apprenticeship (which historically needs to be served before taking the top step) is complete. Surely, it must bring confidence.
“Maybe ‘trust’ is the better word for what Philipp and I are doing, right? I mean, he was the only coach I ever had. You hear people talking about Kat changing coaches and bringing her to another level on the bike, and I also hear stuff like this. Yet I’ve been working with the same coach since 2013, right?
“Philipp [Seipp] is investing so much in me and we are still able to make each other better. I think our ideas and my feedback, like in the Nice preparation, for the pacing, the tactics, and where I could close gaps, and being able to pull it off the way he planned it, that was just really cool for us.
“And to be honest, looking at how other athletes handled the year after [becoming world champion], many have struggled. If you look at Sam [Laidlow], Lucy [Charles-Barclay], and Chelsea [Sodaro], we saw that it was going to be difficult. Maybe because you have more attention and more appointments, so we tried to make a good plan where I’m not racing much, but races where I feel like I want to go and have full energy to give.”
That ultimate goal, of course, is a win in Hawaii. “I really want to enjoy the experience,” she adds. “I know [being world champion] adds pressure, but I can also go there and celebrate it, and this is more the attitude I want to bring. I know what I have to do in order to have a good race, such as bringing a big focus on the swim, and I’m excited to see if I can put the pieces together.
“I’m not the most talented athlete on the planet because I came into the sport so late, but I’m also grounded and settled enough to be happy for someone else who is stronger on the day. I know it’s my profession and my passion, but also it’s not the end of the world. It’s not war, right? So I think, yeah, at least I feel like I have a healthy approach to it.”