Gustav Iden is the men's Ironman World Championship winner for the first time ©Getty Images

Gustav Iden won the men's Ironman World Championship for the first time, overtaking Sam Laidlow late on to ensure there was a Norwegian race winner for a second year in a row.

With the event having returned to its traditional home of Kona in Hawaii, Iden broke the course record en route to victory.

The 26-year-old crossed the line after 7 hours 40min 24sec.

France's Laidlow was also in record-breaking form and set a new course record for the bike split - completing the 112 miles in 4:04:36.

That put Laidlow more than six minutes in front of the chasing pack as he began the run.

Iden and fellow Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt - the defending champion as well as the current Olympic champion - were Laidlow's closest rivals, with Australian Max Neumann also in the mix.

Gustav Iden shattered the course record in Hawaii ©Getty Images
Gustav Iden shattered the course record in Hawaii ©Getty Images

Iden was too strong for Blummenfelt, dropping him before catching Laidlow on mile 23 of the concluding marathon.

Once in front, Iden pulled clear to beat Laidlow by exactly two minutes.

Iden's running split - 2:36:15 - is also a course record.

Blummenfelt was third in 7:43:23 - a time well inside the previous course record of 7:51:13.

Ironman triathlon is a non-Olympic discipline, consisting of a swim of 2.4 miles, bicycle ride of 112 and then a run of 26.2.