Imogen Simmonds had a steady day on her way to placing fifth overall at the 2026 Ironman World Championship. Here’s what she had to say about her race in Kona, which she said was “so beyond my expectationS.”
Published October 11, 2026 01:55AM
For the entire race at the 2026 Ironman World Championship, Imogen Simmonds was in the mix. From sixth out of the swim to fifth on the bike and an eventual fifth-place overall finish, the Swiss star was a steady, relentless presence in one of the strongest women’s pro fields assembled to date. It was a tremendous race for Simmonds, who had not raced in Kona since 2019, where she finished 12th. Since then, she had mostly worked the middle-distance circuit of Ironman 70.3, Challenge Family, and T100 races. She was quite good there, too, picking up a pair of third-place finishes at 70.3 Worlds in 2019 and 2023.
Seconds after her race at Kona 2026, we sat down with Simmonds to discuss her big race, riding solo for most of the day, and the emotions she felt as she crossed the finish line.
“This morning, I said before the start, I can’t believe I’m even here,” she told us. “And to finish fifth is so beyond my expectations.”
What’s she most proud of on a day that was full of reasons to be proud? “Honestly, that last 2K of the run,” she said of breaking away from Lisa Perterer (AUS) after going shoulder-to-shoulder for almost half the run course. “I was like, ‘It’s now or never,’ and I attacked up the hill and held it. And I was like, ‘If worst comes to worst, I’ll be rolling down that hill.’” (Spoiler alert: Simmonds did not need to roll. But she did coast, all the way to an 8:51:44 finish.)
Simmonds also said that even though she spent some time with countrywoman Julie Derron on the bike course, chasing down Taylor Knibb (USA) and Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), she was very much racing her own race. “I just prefer to run on my own, and that’s what I did.”
Simmonds alluded to her recent challenges with a drug-testing investigation, during which she was exonerated, as well: “Everything that I fought so hard for over the past few years, it’s been so worth it.”
Watch the video above for the full interview, including what her reaction when she learned Charles-Barclay and Solveig Løvseth (NOR) had collapsed on the run course.
