Kat Matthews delivered a dominant performance at IRONMAN New Zealand on Saturday, claiming victory in a new women’s course best time of 8:28:55 – more than ten minutes faster than the previous mark.
The Bahrain Victorious athlete controlled the second half of the race to finish nearly seven minutes clear of the field to open the defence of her Ironman Pro Series title in style.
Matthews exited the 3.8-kilometre swim in Lake Taupo a little over two minutes back behind the leaders, but this was a deficit that would prove no obstacle once the race moved onto the bike. Just 35 kilometres into the 180-kilometre bike leg she powered into the front group alongside Hannah Berry and Lotte Wilms, the other two athletes who would eventually make the women’s podium.
Off the bike just six seconds behind Berry, Matthews quickly showed her pedigree as one of the sport’s best marathon runners. Within the first five kilometres, Matthews had already opened a minute’s gap on Berry. By the halfway mark she had extended the lead to over four minutes, and continued to pull away to finish by a margin of nearly seven minutes.
With the first Pro Series points of the season banked, Matthews now sets her sights on an unprecedented third consecutive title.
