Von Berg finished his 2023 season on a high note, crushing the course in Florida with a time of 7:34:41, more than 8 minutes faster than Iden’s course record. Second-place Kacper Stepniak of Poland finished more than 7 minutes back, while third-place Matthew Marquardt (USA) was another 2 minutes back.
“I’m elated with the win and course record here at Ironman Florida today,” von Berg said after his victory. “You always have those doubts pre-race if you’re ready to perform at your best, but today was definitely on par with what I thought would be a great performance.”
The 30-year-old von Berg was strong in all three disciplines to take the Florida win. He came out of the 3.9km swim in the lead group and then powered his Trek bike with a CADEX Aero WheelSystem to a sizzling four hours flat on the 180km bike leg.
From there, Von Berg started the marathon run even with pre-race favorite Magnus Ditlev of Denmark. The two battled side-by-side for the first 8 miles, and then von Berg began to pull away. He never looked back, charging to a career-best marathon time of 2:38:24 to take the lion’s share of the $100,000 purse and earn a starting spot for the 2024 Ironman World Championships.
“I am really stoked to finish this season on a high note,” von Berg said. “Thank you so much to everyone for cheering for me out there and to all the volunteers who did a stellar job.”
The win capped a successful season for von Berg, who grew up in France and now lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado. He also won Ironman Texas earlier this year and finished fourth at the Ironman World Championship in Nice, France.