Tonia Makary during her qualifying race in South Africa for Kona, on March 20, 2025. Photo sent by Tonia Makary.
From the start, Tonia Makary had a plan.In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic confined much of the world, the Zgharta native found herself stuck for three months in a Dubai hotel room. There, she began online training sessions with her twin sister in Lebanon, Joan, and her future coach, Joao Arteche.“On May 13, 2020, Joao called me. I had never missed a session, so he asked, ‘Are you training just for fun?’ I told him I wanted to go to Kona. That’s when the challenge began,” Makary said.On April 5, she became the first Lebanese woman to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, set for Oct. 11. The accomplishment is no small feat. Kona is the historical home of the Ironman World Championships — grueling triathlons made up of a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180 kilometers of cycling and a marathon (42.195 kilometers) to finish. Read...
From the start, Tonia Makary had a plan.In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic confined much of the world, the Zgharta native found herself stuck for three months in a Dubai hotel room. There, she began online training sessions with her twin sister in Lebanon, Joan, and her future coach, Joao Arteche.“On May 13, 2020, Joao called me. I had never missed a session, so he asked, ‘Are you training just for fun?’ I told him I wanted to go to Kona. That’s when the challenge began,” Makary said.On April 5, she became the first Lebanese woman to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, set for Oct. 11. The accomplishment is no small feat. Kona is the historical home of the Ironman World Championships — grueling triathlons made up of a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180 kilometers of cycling and a marathon (42.195 kilometers) to...