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Matt Burton (AUS) And Hannah Berry (NZL) Claim Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns Titles in Paradise

June 16, 2024

- Matt Burton (AUS), making his IRONMAN Pro Series debut, sets new IRONMAN Cairns course best time - Hannah Berry (NZL) wins IRONMAN Cairns on debut, earning the maximum 5,000 IRONMAN Pro Series points and moving her into fifth place in the standings - With a third-place finish at IRONMAN Cairns, Kylie Simpson (AUS) moves to the top of the IRONMAN Pro Series standings on 10,900 points

CAIRNS, Australia (June 16, 2024) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The picture perfect Tropical North Queensland played host to the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns triathlon, the eighth stop and first in Oceania of the IRONMAN Pro Series™. The race saw Matt Burton (AUS) and Hannah Berry (NZL) claim the IRONMAN Asia-Pacific titles and their biggest career wins to date. Their impressive performances earned both athletes 5,000 IRONMAN Pro Series points and USD $25,000 each.

Burton secured victory in a new IRONMAN Cairns course best time of 7:45:24, more than five minutes faster than the record today’s runner-up Braden Currie (NZL) set last year. The Australian also ran 32 minutes faster than he did at IRONMAN Cairns 12 months ago. The feat was all the more impressive after Burton nearly lost his right foot to a serious infection back in January.

“It’s surreal, this is my 10th trip across and it’s by far the most beautiful Cairns has been for my 10th time over to enjoy the Far North. I’ve been here a few weeks, I knew I was in relatively good shape despite the start of the year. I had a real hiatus in and out of hospital with some issues, I was 10 weeks off my feet,” said Burton. “I think this will take a solid week to sink in for me, my wife and my son. Who knows, he might actually remember that, maybe it’s his first memory being two and a half.”

In her second IRONMAN Pro Series race of the year, Hannah Berry took the tape in Cairns in 8:44:31. After a fourth-place finish at the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas in April, Berry’s 5,000 points for victory at IRONMAN Cairns moves her up to fifth in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings.

“I’m so stoked, I pushed so hard out there today. Honestly, that was the hardest I’ve worked in a race ever, but just really happy it was enough to get the win. I don’t know how to put it into words, it means a lot. It’s a big step in the right direction for me and it’s exciting. We work so hard for this, and you really have to celebrate these times because sport has its ups and downs, so I’ll be celebrating tonight,” said Berry.

Top Five Female Professional Results

Place Name (Country) Swim Bike Run Total Time Pro Series Points Event Prize Money
1 Hannah Berry (NZL) 53:04 04:42:05 03:04:53 08:44:31 5,000 $25,000
2 Lotte Wilms (NLD) 50:38 04:43:26 03:08:32 08:46:53 4,858 $15,000
3 Kylie Simpson (AUS) 1:08:18 04:41:18 02:56:06 08:50:12 4,459 $9,000
4 Lauren Brandon (USA) 50:42 04:43:21 03:14:26 08:52:33 4,518 $7,500
5 Rebecca Clarke (NZL) 50:42 04:52:33 03:15:54 09:03:43 3,848 $5,500

 

Top Five Male Professional Results

Place Name (Country) Swim Bike Run Total Time Pro Series Points Event Prize Money
1 Matt Burton (AUS) 50:38 04:05:54 02:44:08 07:45:24 5,000 $25,000
2 Braden Currie (NZL) 46:56 04:16:02 02:41:53 07:48:59 4,785 $15,000
3 Mike Phillips (NZL) 50:38 04:12:04 02:42:32 07:49:21 4,763 $9,000
4 Arnaud Gilloux (FRA) 50:13 04:12:17 02:43:51 07:50:59 4,665 $7,500
5 Tristan Olij (NLD) 50:40 04:16:00 02:42:45 07:54:32 4,452 $5,500

 

The 2024 IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns saw more than 40 of the world’s professional triathletes compete for a piece of the USD $150,000 total event pro prize purse, and IRONMAN Pro Series points, as well as four female professional and four male professional qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship, the women’s race taking place in Nice, France on Sept. 22, and the men’s race taking place in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on Oct. 26.

News and Notes

  • Matt Burton (AUS) claimed his first IRONMAN Cairns victory on his 10th start at the Tropical North Queensland race.
  • Burton set a new course best (7:45:24) and bike course best time (4:05:54) along the way. His course best time beat the previous record by more than five minutes, with his new bike course best time smashing Cameron Wurf’s 2017 time by nearly 10 minutes.
  • Burton ran 32 minutes faster than he did on this same course last year, when he finished seventh.
  • Both Burton and Hannah Berry (NZL) claimed their second ever IRONMAN titles and biggest wins of their career to date.
  • Berry, making her IRONMAN Cairns debut, rode the entire 180km bike course solo and ran her fastest ever marathon.
  • Braden Currie (NZL) has toed the line in Cairns five times, winning on three occasions and finishing second twice.
  • Mike Phillips (NZL) ran the last 1.8km at 2:58 pace to finish 22 seconds behind Currie.
  • Andrew Horsfall-Turner (GBR) and Lotte Wilms (NLD) set the fastest professional swim times of the day, 46:29 and 50:38 respectively.
  • Kylie Simpson (AUS) had the fastest bike and run in the women’s professional race but was 14th out of the water with a nearly 18-minute deficit to the leader.
  • 22 pro male athletes and 14 pro females finished fast enough behind the race winner to earn points toward IRONMAN Pro Series standings.
  • Simpson becomes the second athlete to break the 10,000-point barrier to move her to the top of the IRONMAN Pro Series standings.
  • Both Wilms and Berry moved up 11 places in the IRONMAN Pro Series, to sit fourth and fifth respectively.
  • After the IRONMAN Cairns men’s results and points earned there are some major movers in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings. Nick Thompson (AUS) jumps 35 places to take third in the standings, Currie leaps 61 places to sixth, Gregory Barnaby (ITA) is up 48 places to eighth, while Skipper rises 69 places to leave him 10th.

Full results for the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns can be found at ironman.com/im-cairns-results. For additional event information, please visit ironman.com/im-cairns.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. How it works can be found here.

 

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female (After Eight Events)

Rank Name Country IRONMAN Cairns Points Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Points
1 Kylie Simpson AUS 4,459 10,900
2 Fenella Langridge GBR 0 9,971
3 Jackie Hering USA 0 9,759
4 Lotte Wilms NLD 4,858 9,581
5 Hannah Berry NZL 5,000 9,492

 

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After Eight Events)

Rank Name Country IRONMAN Cairns Points Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Points
1 Matt Hanson USA 0 10,693
2 Patrick Lange DEU 0 8,236
3 Nick Thompson AUS 3,689 7,000
4 Andre Lopes BRA 0 6,950
5 Colin Szuch USA 0 6,908

Full IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at proseries.ironman.com.

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money

In addition to the IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7M year-end bonus prize pool, there is an event pro prize purse payout of $2,575,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. To date the IRONMAN Pro Series has paid out a total of $687,500. Over USD $1.8 million remains to be claimed at the remaining events.

 

Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After eight events)

Rank Name Country IRONMAN Cairns Prize Money Total Prize Money
1 Jackie Hering USA 0 $37,250
2 Hannah Berry NZL $25,000 $33,500
3 Kat Matthews GBR 0 $28,000
4 Lotte Wilms NLD $15,000 $26,000
5 Maja Stage Nielsen DNK 0 $21,000

 

Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After eight events)

Rank Name Country IRONMAN Cairns Prize Money Total Prize Money
1 Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez USA 0 $28,000
2 Matt Burton AUS $25,000 $25,000
3 Patrick Lange DEU 0 $17,500
4 Sam Long USA 0 $17,000
5 Braden Currie NZL $15,000 $16,500

 

Next Events Coming Up

IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant is next up, when the IRONMAN Pro Series heads to Canada on Sunday, June 23. The 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant triathlon will offer professionals a maximum of 2,500 points towards IRONMAN Pro Series standings, a $50,000 event total pro prize purse, and three qualifying slots for each gender to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place in Taupō, New Zealand.

Replay coverage of racing at the 2024 IRONMAN Cairns is available on Outside+ for those watching from the United States and Canada; and for the rest of the world on proseries.ironman.com or IRONMAN’s YouTube Page.

For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit proseries.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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About the IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® 70.3® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll® Running Series, IRONKIDS®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf®, UTMB® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB®, Tarawera Ultra by UTMB® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic®, road cycling events including Haute Route®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.