Kat Matthews earned silver and became vice world champion at the 2024 Ironman World Championships in Nice, France on Sunday.
With a seventh-placed 49:43 swim over 3.8 kilometres in the Baie des Anges, the British star set to work steadily reeling in the early leaders over challenging climbs and technical descents. After getting to the front of the race halfway through the 180-kilometre bike course, she traded the lead with eventual winner Laura Philipp back and forth throughout the remainder of the ride and was first off the bike in 5:05:46.
The two matched stride for stride in the early stages of the marathon until Matthews suffered spasms and a hamstring cramp, allowing an in-form Philipp to run away with the win. Mustering up her strength and grit, Matthews pulled through to run a 2:53:06 marathon and saved the runner-up finish ahead of 2022 Ironman world champion Chelsea Sodaro.
Matthews said post-race, “It’s mixed emotions… Laura was the better athlete on the day and there’s nothing else I could have done to win. I really know that, and it’s not just something I’m deciding for psychological reasons. I’m proud of the day I had and I’m gutted it wasn’t quite good enough.”
She adds this silver medal to those earned at the 2021 Ironman World Championships in St. George, USA and the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Lahti, Finland.
Already with two Ironman wins from Texas and Vitoria-Gasteiz in her back pocket, Matthews also rises to second in the Ironman Pro Series points tally and is one of the favourites to win the $200,000 top prize after its concluding race: the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Taupo, New Zealand in December.
