The 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series has kicked off in style, with the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon delivering one of its most dramatic editions yet, as Kat Matthews (GBR) stormed to a new women’s course best time and Trevor Foley (USA) charged through the marathon to claim his second IRONMAN triathlon victory.
With victory, Matthews and Foley claim $18,000 USD in prize money, 5,000 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points, and qualification to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i – one of the eight total slots on offer to professional athletes at this race.
In the women’s race, Matthews broke the tape in 8:28:55 – setting a new ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon women’s course best time. New Zealand’s Hannah Berry was second in 8:35:43, nearly seven minutes behind Matthews, with Lotte Wilms (NLD) rounding out the podium in 8:39:57.
“It's a really good benchmark, in terms of performance over the series, 5,000 points to start the year is already positive,” said Matthews. “The energy on the run course is incredible. Even two kilometres in, I'm welling up. Everyone's so excited and so positive and so enthusiastic, I was thinking, ‘guys, calm down, please, I’ve got three hours to go.’ I felt like I couldn't give back as much as I wanted to because everyone was screaming. You have to find a bit of a flow in your own head space for the majority of it until you can really embrace it all, I was carried along by so many people, I was so grateful.”
The day unfolded with a swim course setting to rival any in the world – the vast Lake Taupo set to the backdrop of mountains peeking through the clouds – as Fenella Langridge (GBR) led the field out of the water in 50:51, closely followed by Wilms, Rebecca Clarke (NZL), and Berry. Matthews exited 2:39 down from the leaders.
The bike leg brought the first major shake-up. Early leader Berry suffered a dropped chain that forced her to stop and remedy, allowing Wilms and Clarke to ride through. Matthews, however, was the day’s early aggressor, surging to the front around the 35km mark – earlier than many expected – and forming a powerful trio with Berry and Wilms through the majority of the 180km course. Berry entered T2 first after a 4:40:38 ride, with Matthews six seconds behind and Wilms thirteen seconds down – setting up a run showdown among the day’s most consistent performers.
But once the marathon began, Matthews immediately went to work. Within 5km she had already put more than a minute into Berry, and by the halfway point at 21km she had extended her advantage to over four minutes, with Wilms seven minutes behind. Matthews continued to apply pressure all the way to the finish, ultimately breaking the tape in 8:28:55 — a new women’s course best that was more than ten minutes faster than Chelsea Sodaro’s (USA) previous mark set in 2024.
On the men’s side, the stage had been set for Olympic champion and IRONMAN World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) to blitz the rest of the field – but in IRONMAN triathlon racing, scripts are rarely followed. Instead, it was Trevor Foley who stole the show to win the 42nd edition of the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon 7:46:44.
Behind Foley, Pierre Le Corre (FRA) had an IRONMAN triathlon debut to remember to finish second in 7:48:26, just one minute and 42 seconds away from the win, with another American athlete Matt Hanson completing the podium in 7:50:39.
“The race was nuts,” said Foley. “The swim was beautiful, as a weaker swimmer, a calm swim was nice for me. The bike was great, it was rolling, hard enough, but not super hard. Then on the run, I'm not going to speak for anyone else, but I definitely seemed liked the crowd favourite. I had a lot of ‘Merica’s and TFoley’s out there. It was literally every person, and it was just firing me up.”
Local favourite Kyle Smith (NZL) dominated the early stages of the race, only for the marathon to completely transform the leaderboard. France’s Pierre Le Corre led out of the water in 48:11, followed tightly by Robert Huisman (NZL), Smith, and Sam Osborne (NZL). Coming out more than a minute behind were key contenders including Fred Funk (DEU), Blummenfelt, and Mike Phillips (NZL). Trevor Foley exited 3:59 down.
Early on the bike, Blummenfelt suffered a major equipment issue, losing an aerobar extension grip – a setback which likely impacted the rest of his day. Out front, Smith surged aggressively, building nearly a five-minute lead by 90km. Behind him, Foley was carving through the field as one of the fastest movers, while Funk, Blummenfelt, Mike Phillips (NZL), and Le Corre grouped together on the return to Taupo.
Smith entered T2 first, laying down a 4:11:55 bike, with Funk 3:39 back and a tightly bunched group of Blummenfelt, Phillips, Foley, and Le Corre sitting six minutes down. The marathon immediately delivered fireworks. Hanson set an early pace while Jack Moody (NZL) surged through the top ten, and Blummenfelt battled visibly, stopping to vomit but continuing on.
By 19km, Smith’s lead had dropped under five minutes and around 23km, the Kiwi was forced to stop briefly with cramp, opening the door for the chase. At 28km, Foley made the decisive pass on Smith and never looked back.
Behind him, Le Corre and Hanson continued to move strongly, both passing Smith on the run — Hanson first, followed by Le Corre. At 33km, Le Corre closed Foley’s lead to just over thirty seconds, but the American found another gear after running side-by-side for nearly a kilometre with women’s race leader Matthews – a moment that energised both athletes.
Foley powered home to take victory in 7:46:44, just over a minute slower than Phillips’ course best from 2025.
At the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon professional athletes were competing for a maximum of 5,000 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points, a total event pro prize purse of $125,000 USD, and four qualifying slots per gender to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i.
Top Five Female Professional Results – IRONMAN New Zealand
| Place |
Name (Country) |
Swim |
Bike |
Run |
Total Time |
Pro Series Points (unofficial) |
Event Prize Money USD |
| 1 |
Kat Matthews (GBR) |
00:53:30 |
04:38:01 |
02:51:48 |
08:28:55 |
5,000 |
$18,000 |
| 2 |
Hannah Berry (NZL) |
00:50:56 |
04:40:38 |
02:58:12 |
08:35:43 |
4,592 |
$11,500 |
| 3 |
Lotte Wilms (NLD) |
00:50:53 |
04:40:42 |
03:02:19 |
08:39:57 |
4,338 |
$9,000 |
| 4 |
Tamara Jewett (CAN) |
00:54:15 |
04:57:47 |
02:42:40 |
08:41:20 |
4,255 |
$6,000 |
| 5 |
Danielle Lewis (USA) |
01:02:04 |
04:42:11 |
02:59:19 |
08:49:35 |
3,760 |
$5,000 |
Top Five Male Professional Results – IRONMAN New Zealand
| Place |
Name (Country) |
Swim |
Bike |
Run |
Total Time |
Pro Series Points (unofficial) |
Event Prize Money USD |
| 1 |
Trevor Foley (USA) |
00:52:07 |
04:14:15 |
02:35:42 |
07:46:44 |
5,000 |
$18,000 |
| 2 |
Pierre Le Corre (FRA) |
00:48:11 |
04:18:27 |
02:36:18 |
07:48:26 |
4,898 |
$11,500 |
| 3 |
Matt Hanson (USA) |
00:49:57 |
04:20:42 |
2:34:49 |
07:50:39 |
4,765 |
$9,000 |
| 4 |
Jack Moody (NZL) |
00:49:58 |
04:18:10 |
02:37:39 |
07:51:03 |
4,741 |
$6,000 |
| 5 |
Mike Phillips (NZL) |
00:49:55 |
04:16:01 |
02:46:54 |
07:58:09 |
4,315 |
$5,000 |
- Kat Matthews set yet another course best time in an IRONMAN Pro Series race, having set three last year.
- In finishing fourth Tamara Jewett set the fastest run of the day with a 2:42:40, lowering Chelsea Sodaro’s (USA) previous run course best by more than seven minutes.
- France’s Pierre Le Corre finished second on his IRONMAN triathlon debut, impressing on his way to the second step of the podium.
- Foley was the first American man to win IRONMAN New Zealand since Tim DeBoom in 1999
- At 26 years of age Foley is the equal youngest male winner of the event, with New Zealand’s Cameron Brown
- Fenella Langridge (GBR) set the fastest women’s swim time of 50:49, with Le Corre the fastest male to cover the 3.8km in 48:09
- The fastest men’s bike time of the day was set by Kyle Smith with a 4:11:54, with Kat Matthews the quickest female in 4:38:00
- Matt Hanson was the quickest to cover the marathon in 2:34:48, lowering Mike Phillips’ (NZL) course best time of 2:40:05 from 2019, with Tamara Jewett (USA) also setting a new course best time in the women’s race, with her 2:42:40 beating Chelsea Sodaro’s 2:49:59 from 2024.
- Saturday’s race was the first time that Kristian Blummenfelt has not stood on the top step of the podium in an IRONMAN triathlon outside of the IRONMAN World Championship triathlon.
The Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series with professional triathletes being able to earn points at 16 races globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the Experience Oman 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. For any athlete, only their top five event results count towards their overall Pro Series points and standing, of which a maximum of three IRONMAN results can be counted. How it works can be found here.???
Matthews and Foley walked away with the maximum Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points available for an IRONMAN triathlon of 5,000 – taking an early lead in the 2026 series. Athletes finishing behind the race winner saw their points diminish by one with every second that ticked off behind the race winner.
?
Overall Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female (After One Event)???
|
|
|
Total IRONMAN Pro Series Points (Max Top 5 events)
|
Total Eligible Races Scored
|
Eligible IRONMAN Races Scored
|
Eligible IRONMAN 70.3 Races Scored
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
|
Hannah Berry (NZL)
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
|
|
3,760
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Overall Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After One Event)???
|
|
|
Total IRONMAN Pro Series Points (Max Top 5 events)
|
Total Eligible Races Scored
|
Eligible IRONMAN Races Scored
|
Eligible IRONMAN 70.3 Races Scored
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
|
Pierre Le Corre (FRA)
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
|
|
4,315
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Full Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at ironman.com/proseries.
????
Overall Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money
In addition to the Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool, there is an event pro prize purse payout of $2.4 million USD, distributed across Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series events. With the first race complete, a total of $125,000 USD has been earned by professional athletes so far – leaving nearly $2.3 million USD to be claimed at the remaining events.
?????
Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After One Event)???
|
|
|
IRONMAN New Zealand Prize Money??
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tamara Jewett (CAN)
|
$7,500
|
|
|
|
Danielle Lewis (USA)
|
$5,500
|
|
Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After One Event)???
|
|
|
IRONMAN New Zealand Prize Money??
|
|
|
|
Trevor Foley (USA)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Matt Hanson (USA)
|
|
|
|
|
Jack Moody (NZL)
|
$7,500
|
|
|
|
Mike Phillips (NZL)
|
$5,500
|
|
? Next Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series Events Coming Up
The 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series continues Down Under in three weeks’ time, with the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon taking place in Australia on Sunday 23 March. The racing continues thick and fast, as next up the Series heads Stateside with the Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon on Saturday 28 March and the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North American Championship on Saturday 18 April.
?
For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit ironman.com/proseries.