Lars Wichert: Ex-rowing world champion races at Hawaii Ironman Worlds just 5 weeks after horror crash

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Lars Wichert: Ex-rowing world champion races at Hawaii Ironman Worlds just 5 weeks after horror crash.

Lars Wichert was riding downhill at 55 kilometers per hour when a motorcyclist clipped him and caused him to fall. Five weeks after this crash, the 39-year-old will be on the starting line of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii this Saturday at 7 PM – to be seen on the ZDF livestream.

What followed after the crash sounds almost too mild in retrospect for what could have happened: Wichert suffered "only" bruises and severe skin abrasions. He spent one night in the hospital in Winsen, then headed back home. "It could have turned out significantly worse," he says. His helmet shattered on impact – that piece may have saved his life. His 18,000-euro racing bike was also damaged. "You can still see a few abrasions," he reports. "There's still one on the elbow that keeps reopening from the movement. That's still not optimal, especially for swimming."

Four-time rowing world champion, two-time Ironman winner

Wichert is a native Berliner and now lives in Asendorf in Lower Saxony. He became lightweight rowing world champion four times and was an Olympian. After the end of his active career, he switched to long-distance triathlon: 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling, 42.195 kilometers of running. He won the Ironman in Hamburg in 2021 and 2024. This year, he is on site not only as an athlete: as an employee of the company Topteam, which organizes sports trips for triathletes, he has been looking after 30 of the company's athletes in Hawaii in recent days. "Because of that, there was really a lot going on, but now shortly before the race it's gotten a bit quieter."

Back to training – with a borrowed bike and an open legal case

After a short forced break, Wichert slowly got back into training. His own racing bike is part of an ongoing legal proceeding – Wichert has engaged a lawyer because he holds the motorcyclist responsible for the accident, who, according to his account, had overtaken him with too little distance. So that he can train at all, a manufacturer has provided him with a replacement bike. "The preparation didn't go optimally, of course, but I'm glad to be here reasonably healthy," he says.

Second-best age grouper time of all time

Wichert is starting at the Ironman World Championship for the fourth time, and for the third time in Hawaii. This year, the race is once again being held as a combined men's and women's race – in previous years, the World Championship alternated in Nice for one gender at a time. Among amateurs, the so-called age groupers, Wichert belongs to the favorites despite the shortened preparation: with his time of 7:50:42 hours, he holds the second-best finish time ever recorded by an age grouper. Some predictions even count him among the top contenders for the World Championship title.

Wichert himself holds back: "It flatters me, but I don't see myself as a favorite. My goal is to finish in the top five. That would be a huge success for me this year. Every further step up would then be all the more beautiful. I want to put in a race I can look back on with satisfaction afterwards."

Stormy conditions – the defending champion is already out

What makes the task additionally harder: extremely stormy conditions prevail in Hawaii. "The wind conditions are currently extreme, that makes the descents really dangerous," says Wichert. The gusts have already caused several crashes on the island in recent days. The most prominent casualty: Casper Stornes, the defending champion from Norway, broke a collarbone and a lumbar vertebra.

Pasta, Pizza Diavola, and then off home

His last day before the race is all about carbohydrates. "The carbohydrate stores need to be filled," says Wichert, who relies less on science and more on a mix of feeling and experience when it comes to nutrition. Pasta lands on the plate above all. "Actually, I always eat a Pizza Diavola the evening before a race. Let's see if I can get that here too," he says and laughs.

One day after the race, he gets back on a plane home – to Lower Saxony, where autumn break begins on Monday. "My three children are looking forward to their dad."