Daniela Ryf is calling it quits. She has announced that the upcoming season will be her last, after which she will retire. For the past twenty years, she has been an integral part of the sport of triathlon, and her contributions have been invaluable. With numerous titles and victories under her belt, she remains determined to win new titles in the 2024 race season.
The first Challenge Family success for Daniela Ryf dates back to 2016 when she won the prestigious Challenge Roth. It was the first time she took the leading race to her name, but it would not be the last. In 2017, she returned to Germany and won Challenge Roth again. That same year, she was racing Challenge Gran Canaria; it did not come to a victory on the spanish island, as Ryf finished third.
The very biggest success for Ryf, when looking at the Challenge Family races, dates back to last year. In 2023, she won Challenge Roth for a third time in a very spectacular way. Ryf beat Anne Haug in a straight duel – and by thirteen minutes – and pulverized Chrissie Wellington’s former world record. Ryf finished in a stunning time of 8:08:21. “It was a very special day to me. The field was super strong. The 8:08 hours felt like two hours. It was tough, but I had the best feet in the swim.” Twice before, she said, she had tried to break Chrissie Wellington’s world best time. “I thought to myself, ‘If I don’t do this today, I never will.’ But then I felt like I was flying over the course.”
