It was the race that had it all.
A brilliant rookie winner in Solveig Løvseth, a gutsy and gallant runner-up in Kat Matthews and a defiant reigning champion in Laura Philipp made up the podium.
But that tells just part of the story.
Blow ups and breakout top 10s
There were spectacular blow ups from the two women who looked on course for first and second for much of the contest in the searing heat and humidity of Hawaii – Taylor Knibb and Lucy Charles-Barclay and you can read more about that here.
Another former champion in Chelsea Sodaro saw her hopes go west on the bike – more on that here.
But then there were the breakout performances from so many women – including Kona first-timers Lisa Perterer on debut in fifth and Holly Lawrence in sixth, just a year on from the birth of her first child.
But every single one of the 44 finishers deserves huge credit and you can check out their swim, bike and run splits below.
All smiles on the women’s podium after a super-challenging day [Photo credit: Getty Images for IRONMAN]
Full finishing order
PositionAthleteSwimBikeRunOverall1Solveig Løvseth55:404:31:532:55:478:28:272Kat Matthews55:434:40:082:47:238:29:023Laura Philipp55:504:40:262:55:538:37:284Hannah Berry52:024:44:373:04:328:46:255Lisa Perterer55:414:40:503:06:038:48:086Holly Lawrence50:574:47:463:08:258:52:407Jocelyn McCauley55:374:40:273:17:358:59:338Sara Svensk1:05:214:51:562:56:298:59:589Leonie Konczalla1:05:194:45:573:02:499:00:0410Marlene de Boer55:444:46:403:12:299:00:2011Katrine Græsbøll Christensen1:01:024:50:163:05:139:02:0812Laura Jansen55:534:49:483:12:559:04:1513Regan Hollioake52:054:45:193:24:059:07:1214Diede Diederiks1:00:474:47:203:14:319:08:5815Jana Uderstadt1:00:264:55:393:07:549:09:3216Elisabetta Curridori1:00:254:58:093:09:149:12:5617Jenny Jendryschik55:544:52:023:20:439:14:0218Jackie Hering55:494:52:053:19:469:14:5319Maja Stage Nielsen55:404:57:003:16:119:15:0720Haley Chura50:564:58:093:20:479:15:5021Skye Moench55:544:56:083:17:539:17:1922India Lee51:394:48:233:32:289:18:0823Alice Alberts55:534:48:363:27:219:18:1724Julia Skala1:00:564:56:493:15:169:19:0525Charlene Clavel1:00:234:58:423:14:569:19:4426Nina Derron55:554:59:453:19:269:20:1427Gabrielle Lumkes55:515:00:293:22:139:24:1228Lottie Lucas55:484:56:423:26:049:24:4229Merle Brunnée1:05:234:50:343:28:069:29:5030Henrike Güber1:05:274:54:343:24:219:30:1131Anne Reischmann1:00:544:52:433:30:439:30:3032Marjolaine Pierré55:455:00:303:26:289:33:3233Rebecca Clarke51:015:00:033:39:569:38:4234Steph Clutterbuck51:324:49:323:52:289:39:4735Fiona Moriarty1:00:575:00:013:34:079:42:4536Jodie Robertson1:00:475:05:293:31:519:47:1037Annamarie Strehlow1:00:505:10:443:29:349:47:4338Julie Iemmolo51:364:57:324:01:599:57:0139Katie Colville1:00:555:25:463:25:5410:00:2540Katie Remond1:00:445:17:013:37:2310:01:3841Danielle Lewis1:03:265:25:403:31:2610:09:1742Bruna Stolf58:415:43:133:27:1410:17:2443Tamara Jewett59:455:59:483:08:5510:24:0944Alexandra Watt-Shannon59:445:36:113:45:3710:27:54