When you win the Ironman Hawaii almost out of nowhere, a new life begins. From a sporting point of view. Financially. And then you can also allow yourself a few airs and graces. In any case, Chelsea Sodaro was a long time coming at the press conference after the Ironman World Championship, to which the top five were invited to a conference room at Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel to review the day and the race. Four women were seated in racing attire, the center chair was empty.
Five, four, three, two – that was the Swede Lisa Norden, the two Germans Laura Philipp and Anne Haug and the British Lucy Charles-Barclay. Only one thing was missing: the American Chelsea Sodaro. The moderator asked for leniency, sent a colleague to the winner’s room, and finally the door opened and Chelsea Sodaro appeared with husband and daughter Skylar and a Hawaiian wreath on her head. What a performance! Here she came, the first American woman to win Ironman Hawaii since Paula Newby-Fraser in 1996. It’s been a long time.
