Von Berg Lands Podium at Ironman World Championship!

Rudy von Berg realized a lifelong dream when he finished third at this year’s race in Kona, Hawaii, becoming the first American man to reach the podium since Tim O'Donnell in 2019.
 
On a historic day that saw a record-breaking time by three-time champion Patrick Lange, and 16 men breaking the 8-hour mark, von Berg survived an epic battle on the 180km bike leg and then surged during the 42.2km run to earn the podium.
 
Von Berg was born in the U.S. and grew up in France before attending the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he won two collegiate national triathlon championships. The 30-year-old, who today still lives and trains in Boulder, first came to Kona as a 5-year-old to watch his father, Rodolphe Sr. compete in the Ironman.
 
“I’m super stoked,” von Berg said after his finish. “It’s been a dream my entire life pretty much, since I was 5 years old coming here to watch my dad.”
 
The battle started early during the 3.8km swim, where a lead group of 22 men, including von Berg along with fellow CADEX triathlete and 2021 Ironman World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt, separated themselves from the field.
 
On the bike leg, defending world champion Sam Laidlow of France set a blistering pace at the front, riding alone for most of the 180km, smashing his own record by nearly 7 minutes. Von Berg, riding his Factor HANZŌ bike with a CADEX Aero 4-Spoke WheelSystem, was laying the power down, riding comfortably in a chase group.
 
“I had a solid swim, I was in the front pack, felt really in control,” von Berg said. “So right away I knew the body was responding and I was on a good day. The bike was super-fast, a lot of change of pace. That front group was just massive, it was really hard to get away. I was doing pretty high watts for a while and using tactics to try and get away over hills and stuff, but those guys were just not budging—they were right there the whole time.”
 
The American finished the bike leg in a solid position, having paced himself well to make his move on the run. “I think everyone was just kind of hanging on at the end [of the bike leg],” he said. “You could tell, the group was just kind of disintegrating within the last 20-30k. At the beginning of the run, I was around 10th, 12th. I was still feeling pretty good.”
 
Meanwhile, Blummenfelt was battling stomach issues on the bike. After a strong start, the Norwegian was forced into survival mode the rest of the day.
 
During the run, Laidlow paid the price for his record-setting bike leg as he began to falter. His large lead was quickly being eaten up by the other contenders including von Berg. The American seemed to get stronger, and in the final 10 miles he continued to pass others with his eye on the podium.
 
“I just worked my way through to third and got to hang on at the end,” von Berg said. “Yeah, I’m just elated with this.”
 
Lange ended up taking the win with his record time of 7:35:53. Magnus Ditlev of Denmark was second with 7:43:39, and von Berg third with 7:46:00.