Sam Laidlow hopes to avoid surgery after Kona withdrawal

French triathlete Sam Laidlow thinks he may not need to go under the knife. After undergoing several medical tests in Australia, he explained in a video posted on Instagram that, hopefully, he won’t need surgery, “or at least not this year”. It is a change from what he announced after pulling out of the Ironman World Championship in Kona, when he said he would travel to France for an operation.

Laidlow, the 2023 Ironman world champion, is in his off-season and is using it to get to the bottom of what happened in Hawaii. He summed it up like this: “Just off-season and trying to sort out this lack of blood flow or nerve issue that I had in Kona, which forced me to stop the race”. He therefore still has no definitive diagnosis: he is investigating whether it was a lack of blood flow or a nerve problem.

A diagnosis that is no longer settled

After his withdrawal, the triathlete identified his problem as iliac artery endofibrosis and announced an operation in France. In his latest update he no longer presents that explanation as a settled conclusion and talks about a possible blood flow or nerve problem. He has also not announced a date for any operation or a recovery timeline.

According to Laidlow, the process is ongoing and he has been through numerous examinations. “I’ve had lots of different exams, MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds after cycling, et cetera, et cetera, all here in Australia”, he said. In other words, MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds after riding the bike, all carried out in Australia. Possibilities are being ruled out little by little, hence his cautious optimism: “It looks like, hopefully, I won’t need surgery, or at least not this year”.

Laidlow added that there are measures that could be put in place in the near future to get him back to running: “I think there’s things we can put in place in the near future to hopefully be back and running”. He has not said what they are.

From second place in T2 to withdrawal

In Kona, Laidlow completed the 180 km bike leg with problems in his left leg and came out of the second transition in second place, 1:27 behind race leader Magnus Ditlev. During the bike leg he compensated for the lack of response in that leg by pushing harder with his right, and he estimated he was 40 to 50 watts below what he expected.

By his own account, he considered stopping when he reached Hawi, but carried on in the hope that the change of position after getting off the bike would improve his circulation. It did not: when he started running, his left leg was practically numb. He tried loosening his shoe and taking off his sock to regain feeling, without success, and he pulled out at around kilometre 5 of the marathon.

He has clarified that the problem did not appear for the first time in Kona. He already knew about this limitation and knew he might need an operation, although in other races he had managed to cope with it and keep running after the bike leg.

No return date or schedule

Laidlow has not released specific test results, nor which hypotheses have been ruled out, nor a date for resuming training or a racing calendar.

His message to Ditlev after the Florida result

During those same days, the Frenchman congratulated Ditlev on Instagram for his performance at IRONMAN Florida, in Panama City Beach, the previous weekend. “Congrats big dog @magnuselbaekditlev, savagery!”, he wrote. The Dane clocked 7:19:17, a time that beats by 1:47 Laidlow’s best full-distance time, the 7:21:04 he achieved at Challenge Roth in July. He added: “Woke up and had to change the bio :(“.