Sam Long rounded out his season and a memorable few weeks in fantastic style with a win at IRONMAN 70.3 La Quinta as Kirsten Kasper made the perfect step up to middle distance to make it a USA double.

Long recently became a father for the second time and headed to Indian Wells just three weeks after a runner-up spot at IRONMAN Arizona but he was a class apart in the men’s race as he roared into contention on the bike before running away with it on the half marathon.

Short-course star Kasper meanwhile was in the front rank pretty much throughout before asserting on the run to see off Amelie Kretz (CAN).

Here’s how it all played out…

Pro Men – Long and Sanders to the fore

The big question mark in the build up was whether Canadian superstar Lionel Sanders would be ready to make his comeback from a long injury layoff but the good news was that he was on the start list.

He and good friend Long were around three minutes back after the swim but that was actually only a minute back from the main pack as middle-distance debutant Carter Stuhlmacher (USA) was first out of the water in an impressive 22:14, more than two minutes clear of his nearest rival.

Long wasted little time in going from 20th to second in the first 15 miles of the bike and he had joined Stuhlmacher by the 25-mile point along with Jackson Laundry (CAN) and Federico Scarabino (URY) – with Sanders only a handful of seconds behind that quartet.

As the bike leg progressed Stuhlmacher dropped back but the other four pressed on and arrived at T2 together and given the gaps back to the rest they looked to have the podium locked up.

And we were soon treated to another Long vs Sanders battle as all the questions about their stop/start build-up to the race went out of the window.

But when it mattered it was Long who was strongest as his quickest-of-the-day 1:10:38 half marathon saw him win by nearly three minutes from Sanders, with Laundry in third.

Pro Women – Incredible debut from Kasper

The women’s race was potentially impacted before it even started with ProTriNews reporting that overnight a golf cart rolled into transition and damaged some of the pro bikes, including Jackie Hering (USA) and Steph Clutterbuck (GBR).

But when the action got under way it was American duo Kasper, making her middle-distance bow, and Jenna Campbell who powered away from their rivals. They were a minute and 44 seconds ahead of Clutterbuck in third while of the pre-race favourites Tamara Jewett (CAN) was at +2:48 in 10th and Hering was +3:34 in 13th.

Kasper initially put around 20 seconds into Campbell on the bike but my the 25-mile point they were back together and joined by Kretz. Hering was making up a little ground at +2:46 but Jewett was dropping back at +4:25.

It was nip and tuck from then on and only six seconds separated the top six at T2 – Jeanni Metzler (RSA) and Solenne Billouin (FRA) now leading the way from Clutterbuck, Kretz, Kasper and Campbell with Hering 2:19 back in seventh and great to see Ali Brauer (USA) back in the mix in eighth.

And on the run it was Kasper who had moved into a clear lead at halfway, 52 seconds in front of Kretz and that pattern continued as the two moved well clear of the rest.

At the line it was Kasper who rounded off the perfect 70.3 debut in 4:06:08, Kretz second and Germany’s Anna Buttner moving through the field in third thanks to a rapid 1:14:10 half marathon.

IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells Results

Sunday December 7, 2025

Pro Men

• 1. Sam Long (USA) – 3:36:26 (25:12 / 1:56:57 / 1:10:38)
• 2. Lionel Sanders (CAN) – 3:39:16 (25:27 / 1:56:41 / 1:13:10)
• 3. Jackson Laundry (CAN) – 3:39:39 (24:39 / 1:57:25 / 1:13:44)

Pro Women

• 1. Kirsten Kasper (USA) – (24:14 / 2:17:32 / 1:19:43)
• 2. Amelie Kretz (CAN) – (26:10 / 2:15:48 / 1:21:22)
• 3. Anna Buttner (GER) – (30:28 / 2:18:38 / 1:14:10)