Chelsea Sodaro

Chelsea Sodaro is a professional triathlete and the 2022 Ironman World Champion. Chelsea grew up in Davis, California — Bike City, USA. She swam, biked, danced, and played competitive soccer as a young kid. In high school, Chelsea discovered an affinity for running and began competing in cross country and track. After a successful high school track campaign, she was recruited by several top Division 1 programs and decided to take her talents to UC Berkeley. During her senior year she became a Four Time All-American. Feeling that she had not reached her potential, Chelsea decided to pursue post-collegiate running. As a professional runner, she promptly won two national titles and became an Olympic prospect for the United States. She was a national level contender and regularly competed on the Diamond League track and field circuit. Despite her success, Chelsea struggled with injuries and fell short of making the Olympic Team in 2016. Throughout her career as a runner, Chelsea had been following triathlon. After the frustration of the Olympic Trials, her husband, Steve, suggested that she give triathlon a try. She did her first triathlon in the spring of 2017 at the age of 27 and was hooked. She began training full time for the sport, and that season achieved her first ITU World Cup podium. In 2018, she won her first ITU World Cup, followed by a transition to long-course racing, where she won several 70.3 races. Chelsea placed 4th at the 2019 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France. 

Realizing that there would be limited racing in 2020, Chelsea and her husband Steve decided to start their family and welcomed their daughter, Skylar, into the world on March 16th, 2021. Just 18 months after ‘Skye’ was born, Chelsea won the Ironman World Championships in Kona, becoming the first American woman to win the race since 1996. 

Chelsea owns several course records and claimed 3rd place at the 2024 Ironman World Championships.

Chelsea is passionate about maternal health and making sport a more welcoming and equitable for moms and women in sport. She has spearheaded fundraising campaigns with her partners on behalf of ‘For All Mothers’, a non profit working to eliminate the motherhood penalty and build a world where mothers can thrive in family and career. 

Chelsea lives in Niwot, Colorado with Steve, Skye, their dog, Tyson, and their cats, Chase and Ziggy.