Kat Matthews led the charge for the Bahrain Victorious 13 on Saturday, taking her third IRONMAN World Championship silver medal at the historic final all-women’s race in Kona, Hawaii.
The British star also set a new run course record on the way to her first-ever finish in Kona, redeeming her 2023 DNS due to a career-threatening car crash in the training lead-up.
With this result, Matthews remains atop the Ironman Pro Series as it heads to the season finale at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain next month.
She emerged from the 3.8-kilometre swim in 55:43, coming out with the third chase pack behind Bahrain Victorious 13 teammates Taylor Knibb and India Lee, who were further up the road.
As Knibb dueled against Lucy Charles-Barclay on the 180-kilometre bike leg for the lead, pushing the pace to open a near-14-minute gap on the field heading into the marathon, Matthews rode a controlled 4:40:08 and had the run legs to show for it as she chased down Solveig Loevseth in third.
As Charles-Barclay succumbed to the heat and Knibb faltered with two miles remaining, Matthews surged through the closing kilometres. Her blistering 2:47:23 marathon broke the Kona run-course record and brought her to within 35 seconds of victory – the third-closest finish in IRONMAN World Championship history.
“It was a fantastic experience to make T2 specifically, as I didn’t two years ago, and to be in a race where everyone was really having to push their limits,” she said post-race. “I really gave it everything. So, I knew that my closing kilometres were very fast… I didn’t know I was that close, though.”
The result is Matthews’ third IRONMAN World Championship silver, following those earned in St. George (2022) and Nice (2024). She is now the first athlete to finish runner-up on three different IRONMAN World Championship courses, a distinction that may stand as the event returns to a combined single-day format in Kona next year.
Lee toughed out the marathon to come 22nd in her first-ever IRONMAN World Championship finish.
Matthews’ record-setting performance caps a standout week for Bahrain Victorious 13 and sets the tone for the short-course season finale in Wollongong, Australia, where the World Triathlon Championship Series will crown its champions. Lauren Parker will chase a fifth paratriathlon world title, Cassandre Beaugrand will defend her crown alongside Emma Lombardi, and Vasco Vilaça lines up in the men’s race looking to challenge for victory.
