Kat Matthews of Great Britain has gone down in IRONMAN history as the first ever winner of the IRONMAN Pro Series™, taking home a bonus payout of $200,000 USD. Jackie Hering (USA) and Lotte Wilms (NLD) complete the IRONMAN Pro Series podium, receiving a bonus payout of $130,000 USD and $85,000 USD respectively.
The VinFast IRONMAN® 70.3® World Championship in Taupo served as the series finale of the IRONMAN Pro Series, meaning it was the last chance for professional athletes to score points towards their end of year standings. Matthews went into the race second on the leaderboard with 17,836 points, needing to finish within 34 minutes of the leader in order to gain on Hering and finish atop of the rankings. In the perfect climax to an epic year of racing, Matthews put it all on the line in a quest for VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship victory, coming an impressive second, just 1 minute 15 seconds behind eventual winner, Taylor Knibb.
Hering, who had led the IRONMAN Pro Series since her second place at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid triathlon back in July had already completed her five required races, meaning today’s race was an opportunity to capitalize on the points premium and improve on her lowest scoring IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon. While Hering’s 18th place position and 16-minute deficit from the winner at today’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship wasn’t quite enough to improve on her existing score, her incredible season to date, inclusive of four podium finishes and an IRONMAN European Championship title, meant she finished the IRONMAN Pro Series in second place.
Completing the IRONMAN Pro Series women’s podium was Lotte Wilms, whose performance at the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon saw her clock 1,975 points and move up the leaderboard by one place in the final standings.
The top three athletes were presented with their trophies by CEO of The IRONMAN Group, Scott DeRue, during a dedicated IRONMAN Pro Series ceremony following the race in Taupo.
At the post-race press conference, Kat Matthews commented: “I’m really proud to finish the year with the goal that we set out at the start and I think...pulling that together with everything else going on has been a real logistical challenge, as well as a physical one. The funding behind it [IRONMAN Pro Series] and our reward, really enables us to travel to places like New Zealand, and do these races properly, with professionalism and considering our health and performance on race day... Hopefully I’ve set a good benchline for the future years of the IRONMAN Pro Series.”
Matthews’ incredible IRONMAN Pro Series season saw her clock five podium finishes, inclusive of victories at Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas and IRONMAN Vitoria triathlons. At the latter, she dominated the run course, clocking a 2:54:40 marathon for the fastest run of the day, going on to enjoy an eight-minute victory.
An incredible performance at the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Nice, France also saw Matthews earn her second IRONMAN World Championship runner-up spot and earn 5,515 points which moved her up three places in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings to second.
Matthews also came second at the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Tallinn triathlon, where she pushed hard to chase down Germany’s Caroline Pohle who went wire-to-wire for an impressive victory.
Today’s performance in Taupo was the perfect culmination of Matthews’ year-long triathlon brilliance, unwavering determination and unfaltering consistency, as she sets an unbelievably high bar of performance for future years of the IRONMAN Pro Series.
The top 10 female and male athletes in the series share a prize purse of $1.3 million USD, which is weighted according to ranking. Athletes ranking 11-50 all receive a bonus of $5,000 USD each, with the total prize purse $1.7 million USD. The bonus pay out is in addition to any pro prize money earnt at individual races throughout the season.
Top 10 Female Professional Results – IRONMAN Pro Series
*Inclusive of bonus and 2024 individual IRONMAN Pro Series event prize purses
Following a successful first edition of the IRONMAN Pro Series, the IRONMAN Pro Series will be returning in 2025, and will kick off down under at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong in Victoria, Australia on 23 March 2025 and finish at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain on 8th – 9th November 2025.??