It will be a race full of stars. Kraków proved to be an excellent host city for last year’s IRONMAN event. The list of PRO athletes and influencers ready to take part in this year’s race looks impressive.
Without a doubt, all eyes will be on last year’s winner in Kraków, Kacper Stępniak. The Polish athlete finished last year’s race in 3:39:40, narrowly beating Max Sperl. The German is in good form, which he proved by winning Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Gdynia. However, Kacper returns to Kraków with one goal: to defend the title he won last year. Stępniak remains the highest-ranked Polish triathlete in the IRONMAN Pro Series, where he is 13th, and in the PTO (Professional Triathletes Organisation) ranking, where he is 52nd. The 31-year-old has not yet reached the podium at an IRONMAN race this year. His best result was fourth place at the IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship.
One of the main favourites for the race in Kraków comes from Denmark. Daniel Bækkegård grew up in a small village, where he competed for medals with his local swimming team. His first season as a professional triathlete came in 2019, when he won IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt in Austria and qualified for the IRONMAN World Championship as the youngest professional athlete. In 2021, he finished third at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and in 2022 he won the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship in Elsinore. He has an impressive five IRONMAN 70.3 victories from races around the world.
The highest-ranked Polish woman on the start line for Sunday’s race will be Marta Łagownik. She is currently 12th in the IRONMAN Pro Series rankings and is certainly one of the favourites, as her form continues to improve. Just a few weeks ago, on 12 July, she finished third at IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea. Łagownik is 31 years old and has been competing in triathlon for 11 years. Before taking up triathlon, she trained in swimming and the decathlon. She works as a coach at a club in Gdańsk and as a clinical researcher. She has seven siblings.
In Kraków, Marta will compete against Agnieszka Gadomska, who won this year’s Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Gdynia, claiming her first victory in the PRO category. At the finish line, she spoke about how much winning on the Baltic coast meant to her.
I felt good today. I am so happy. To win in Poland with all these supporters around is something amazing. On the beautiful bike course, the fans were shouting “Go Aga!” and that gave me extra energy. It was the best bike course I have ever raced on.
Agnieszka Gadomska – winner of Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Gdynia
The athlete from Zielona Góra has been competing in triathlon since 2020. In 2024, she won the World Championship title over the Olympic distance in Torremolinos, Spain. In Kraków, she will certainly be aiming for her second victory as a PRO athlete.
A true triathlon legend will take on the course in Kraków. Nikki Bartlett has finished on the podium at “M-Dot” races more than 30 times. She is a highly experienced athlete who has been competing in IRONMAN events for 15 years. Before starting her triathlon career, she was a member of her university rowing team. She finished fifth at the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship in Nice. This year, she has already raced in Jönköping and at IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea, where she finished fifth.
Another champion on the start list for the race in Kraków is Matthew Dochnal. The American triathlete competed in the full-distance IRONMAN Texas North American Championship last year and took first place. At this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley North American Championship, he finished 37th. The 26-year-old comes to Poland with the goal of fighting for a top position.
Another American who will take on the challenge at Zakrzówek and on the roads of Małopolska is Marc “The Shark” Dubrick. He is a professional triathlete and a member of the Real Triathlon Squad. The 2023 season was a breakthrough year for “The Shark”, as he finished on the podium five times, including a victory at the legendary Escape From Alcatraz. He finished eighth overall and was the top American at the 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
Trinfluencers
Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Kraków will also feature a strong group of influencers. The best known among them is Mini Majk, a former member of Friz’s Ekipa and an MMA athlete. In Warsaw, he competed as part of a relay team, taking on the bike leg. In Kraków, he will complete the entire distance, including the swim, bike and run. Kriskej, Tromba and @bez_zbednych_pytan, also known as Kuba Żurek, will compete as a relay team. Each of these online creators has already competed individually in the world’s most famous triathlon series. This time, however, they have decided to join forces and race together as a team in Kraków. Michał Wrzosek will take on the full race individually. He is a well-known Polish doctor of dietetics, clinical nutrition expert and online creator who debunks nutrition myths, promotes healthy habits and shows his followers how to choose products with good ingredients.
More information about Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Kraków is available on the official website: https://ironmankrakow.pl/
ENEA is the title sponsor of the IRONMAN Poland series. The City of Kraków is the strategic partner of Enea IRONMAN 70.3 Kraków. The Małopolska Regional Government and the City of Bochnia are event partners. Other sponsors and partners of the event include: Citi Handlowy, drWitt, Qemetica, Sportano.pl, Enterprise, Pho3nix, Cisowianka, Czanieckie Makarony, Wessper, Medical Sport, Arcyksiążęcy Browar Zamkowy Cieszyn, Shimano, Hydrex and 226ers. Jagiellonian University is the Social Partner.
