Ocean Lava Lanzarote 2026 preview: the Puerto del Carmen triathlon

On Saturday 24 October the Ocean Lava Lanzarote is raced in Puerto del Carmen, the island’s October triathlon. This year it has three races for adults, a supersprint, an Olympic distance and an Olympic relay, plus an aquathlon for children. What it does not have is a half distance, and that is not new this year.

The half distance went in 2025

The last Ocean Lava half distance was raced in 2024, and it was won by José Manuel Hernández García, of Club Natación Reales, in 4:17:36. By 2025 the results only list the Olympic, the supersprint and the relay, and 2026 stays the same. So anyone who misses it did not lose it this year: it is now two editions without one.

How many are in already

As of 15 October 2026 there are 408 entries, and this is how the entry platform splits them race by race: 244 in the individual Olympic, 85 in the supersprint, 42 in the three-person relay, 29 in the children’s aquathlon and 8 in the two-person relay. Entries closed on Sunday 18 October at 23:59.

For a sense of the direction: on 11 September there were 254 entries, 188 of them in the Olympic. Between the two readings 154 more people have signed up. In percentage terms the one growing most is the supersprint, from 50 to 85, which is 70 % more; in people it is the Olympic, which adds 56 against the supersprint’s 35.

Last year’s figure is the yardstick: in 2025, 213 triathletes finished the Olympic, 171 men and 42 women. The 244 entered as of 15 October 2026 are thirty-one above that number, while the entry window was still open. They are two different things, though: entering is not finishing, and between a start list and a finishers’ list there is always attrition.

The podium, with no repeat names in sight

In the men’s Olympic, the last two editions tell the story of one ladder. In 2024 Laurens Verluyten won in 1:57:15, ahead of Jorge Carlos Wilkes (1:58:30) and Rasmus Pilegaard (2:03:41). In 2025 Verluyten was not on the podium and the other two each moved up a step: Wilkes won in 1:59:52 and Pilegaard was second in 2:03:16, 3:24 behind. Arturo Javier Barro completed the podium in 2:08:09.

In the 2025 women’s race Maike Döhling won in 2:35:13, and Marine Blache finished 52 seconds later (2:36:05). Sheila Jordan was third in 2:39:26. In 2024 the winner was Mia Leadbeater; the two official results tables for that year give her different times, so we give neither.

And this is what makes this more than a recap: on 11 September 2026 none of the six on the 2025 Olympic podium was on the Olympic start list, and neither were the 2024 winners. That reading carries its date because it cannot be checked again: as of 15 October 2026 the platform publishes only the totals for each race, not the names. And 56 more people have entered the Olympic since, so it may have changed. If it did not, Ocean Lava 2026 will have a different men’s and women’s winner from 2025.

The supersprint, the way in

The supersprint is the distance for beginners and young athletes: it is open from age 14 with a guardian’s permission. In 2025, 80 people finished it, and it was won by two cadets aged 14 and 15. That is why we do not publish their names.

If you are going to watch

Almost everything happens on the Avenida de Las Playas: transition, finish and the run laps, so from the promenade you see each triathlete go past more than once without moving. The Olympic starts at 08:30 and the supersprint at 08:00. The 2026 road closure map is now published, read on 30 September 2026. On Friday the 23rd, from 08:00, Avenida de Las Playas closes between Calle Rusia and Calle Yugoslavia and does not reopen until 16:00 on Saturday. On Saturday the 24th, from 07:00 to 11:30, Calle Noruega closes and so do both lanes of the LZ-40 between the El Toro roundabout and the Matagorda turn-off. To get into Puerto del Carmen that morning, the route through Mácher and Puerto Calero to Calle Reina Sofía stays open throughout, as does the LZ-505 from Tías. To get out, Calle Juan Carlos I towards the LZ-40 closes at 05:30 and the Reina Sofía exit towards the airport at 06:30.

The full listing, with prices, bib collection times and the rules, is on the Ocean Lava Lanzarote page.