IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow gets grim reality check as ‘full health and fitness’ still seems far away

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It’s been a challenging start to 2025 for France’s Sam Laidlow and it sounds like triathlon fans are going to have to wait a while longer before we see him in race action.

The brilliant winner of the 2023 IRONMAN World Championship in Nice ended up in a dark place a year later when trying to defend his title in Kona. Since then it sounds like it’s been a difficult journey to get anywhere near back to full fitness.

He’s been very open about that, and his latest update underlines the task which faces him – but also that he’s ready to take it on.

Sam Laidlow health update

Writing on Instagram, he said: “After 10 days of feeling grateful and excited to be able to train, thinking I’d “flipped” a switch, reality sunk in yesterday.. realising quite how far away I am from full health and fitness.

“It will be a big challenge to get back into full swing in time for this season, but I’m ready to give it my best f**king shot! I owe this to everyone who supports this journey.”

Sam Laidlow wins T100 London [Photo credit: PTO]

Race against time

Laidlow travelled out to the Middle East recently for Challenge Sir Bani Yas but didn’t race.

His big target date is Sunday September 14 for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, where he triumphed two years ago. That is exactly 21 weeks away.

Last year in a stop-start season the undoubted highlight was a brilliant win at T100 London. That was followed by a close second at T100 Ibiza to Marten Van Riel, who became a dominant figure as he was crowned the men’s T100 World Champion.

Written by

Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner is News Director for both TRI247 and RUN247, and is accustomed to big-name interviews, breaking news stories and providing unrivalled coverage for endurance sports.

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