We are another day closer to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship, and it's starting to feel real. The finish line barriers are up, the nervous energy is palpable, and the press conference brought its usual non-relaxed banter.

We had another fun morning in the Feisty tent, selling HERE FOR THE WOMEN'S RACE shirts and chatting with all kinds of people. Then we headed over to the Lu'au grounds at the King Kamehameha Resort for the press conference.

Ironman had set up a red carpet for the athlete entranceway, so of course we asked the athletes to give us a little catwalk swagger. Some of them jumped right in, hitting their stride like pros (I'm looking at you, Solveig, Laura & Julie ). Special shout-out to Martin Van Riel, who gave us a twirl without prompting.

On today's podcast, we share clips from the press conference. We hear from:

• Julie Derron on her first Kona experience
• Taylor Knibb about her recovery from last year's collapse here in Kona and her 2nd-place finish in Texas.
• Why Lucy Charles-Barclay feels like she still has a lot to learn about this race
• The mindset Laura Philip has about this race and the potential IRONMAN Pro Series Win.
• Why "35 seconds" haunts (and fuels) Kat Matthews
• We also learn what was going through last year's winner Solveig Løvseth's head when she broke away on the bike, and the athletes joke about what really happens in the group chat.

Thanks to our sponsors:

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

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