Matt Burton and Hannah Berry have claimed victory at the 2024 Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns, with both athletes impressing on their way to the top step of the podium, securing maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points along the way.
Burton, from Perth in Western Australia, crossed the finish line in 7:45:24, a new course-best time, three and a half minutes ahead of New Zealand’s Braden Currie, with fellow Kiwi Mike Phillips just 20 seconds behind in third.
“It’s surreal, this is my 10th trip across, it's by far the most beautiful Cairns for my 10th time over to enjoy the Far North. I've been here a few weeks, I knew I was in 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. “So, then it became very much just about Cairns, I was hoping to sort of chase the Pro Series but now having qualified for Kona back in December, at home in Busselton, it's just really now about today and Kona and it's unbelievable.
“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,” he said. “It's so special having them here, he was born the week I won my first [IRONMAN] so they weren't there for that and so it just makes it more memorable today.”
The West Australian was 11th out of the water following the 3.8km swim in Palm Cove, four minutes behind the leader, Great Britain’s Andrew Horsfall-Turner. Once onto the bike Burton immediately got to work, cutting into the leading pack’s advantage, before eventually moving into first position 110km into the race.
From there he pushed ahead, opening up an almost six-minute lead over Phillips when he returned to Cairns, with Great Britain’s Joe Skipper third off the bike. The chasing pack started chipping away at Burton’s lead, with Currie jumping up to second within the first two kilometres. Currie closed in to within two and a half minutes of the lead but Burton responded, holding the gap steady until the finish.
“In the swim, I probably found myself in a position that I've never been before with the chase group, which was massive. And then everyone was looking around to see what to do once we get on the bike,” said Burton. “I knew I had really good bike legs and it was coming to me, so it slowly split up, I went to the front and just held a pretty steady tempo and slowly one at a time you send people back on their own and then Josh Amberger and I got together, he attacked up Rex's Lookout on the way out in the second lap and that split the race and then we committed for a while and eventually when we turned to come back in Port Douglas Josh couldn't come with me and I was like, it's time to get some screen time and enjoy the ride back, but it's probably the most enjoyable day I've ever had on the bike in a race.
“You know, breaking four [hours] last December at home in Busselton was special, but that was a really enjoyable feeling today. I'm on a new bike as well this year, so it all came together at the right time and then the run, when you’ve got a group of guys coming off together, they're all going to come hard at you, it's natural,” he said. “You wouldn't expect any less, but with my foot being the issue while I was away for 10 weeks, I just had to run my own race and hold strong, and I felt very strong just not overly fast. Strong was good today, to break the course record that’s just surreal.”
Burton’s victory was all the more impressive given he nearly lost his right foot to a serious infection back in January.
“It unravelled on me, I actually had a bone infection in my right small toe, and I had two surgeries and then we went to go back in for a third one, but they said we'll probably have to take half your foot off and we don't know when you’ll return,” said Burton. “[The alternative was] it's up to you if you want to trust a big round of antibiotics and hope it works, and fortunately for me it did. Then it was the slow crawl back where every day was a PB. When you have 10 weeks off you start from zero, you’ve got no fitness, but the beauty is muscle memory. Muscle does remember and it just took 10 weeks to remember before I really started to feel a little bit more myself and then I decided to come in to Cairns two weeks early and it was the best decision of my life.
“I want to enjoy the sport more now, I've had a lot of bad times when you sit on the side of the road. You know, sport is beautiful, but with all forms of beauty there's trauma and there's tribulation and it very much became about not just me performing today, but it's having my wife and my son experience it as a real team. It takes a lot more than an athlete to get across the line in good shape,” he said.
Hannah Berry (NZL) Secures Biggest Career Victory
New Zealand’s Hannah Berry had a day to remember in the women’s race, taking the finish tape in 8:44:31, two minutes clear of Dutch athlete Lotte Wilms, with defending champion Kylie Simpson third.
Sunday’s win was Berry’s second IRONMAN victory, with her first being on debut at IRONMAN New Zealand back in 2021, with the Cairns victory the biggest of her career to date.
“I'm so stoked, I pushed so hard out there today,” said Berry. “Honestly, that was the hardest I've worked in a race ever, but just really happy it was enough to get the win.”
Berry was fourth out of the water, two and a half minutes behind the leading trio of Lotte Wilms, Lauren Brandon and Rebecca Clarke. The top three held their positions at the front of the race for the first 130km of the bike leg before Berry reeled in Clarke. From there Berry continued to take time out of Wilms and Brandon as they hit the Cairns Esplanade.
Wilms was first off the bike, just a second ahead of Brandon, with Berry a minute behind in third. Wilms and Brandon swapped positions a number of times through the early stages of the marathon before Berry made her move and never looked back on her way to victory.
“It was a pretty good swim for me, obviously I wanted to be up there with the front three, but I wasn't quite good enough today. On to the bike, it was a completely solo ride for me out there, which was at times pretty mentally tough, I could see at every U-turn that the front three were together and working together and then I was a couple of minutes back and it seemed like the whole time I was just on my own,” said Berry. “So, it was a very lonely 180km ride, but I just tried to stick to my race, stick to my numbers, and just stay positive and never give up.
“I came into T2 with not too much down on the front girls and then just really tried to run my own race, settle in, and tried not to slow down too much and hoped that it was enough to hang on for the win. I think that was my fastest marathon in an IRONMAN, so pretty stoked,” she said. “I can't really put the finish line into words I don't think. You only dream of something like that so it means a lot.
“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 I really have to celebrate these times because sport has its ups and downs, so I'll be celebrating tonight,” said Berry.
As well as claiming the Asia-Pacific Championship title, Berry’s win in Cairns will shoot her up the IRONMAN Pro Series leaderboard, with the victory worth 5,000 points.
“I'm stoked [to come away with 5,000 IRONMAN Pro Series points]. That’s my second race, two IRONMANs done now and pretty decent points out of those two so we keep pushing for the rest of the year and see how we end up,” she said. “A little break now because I did Texas before this one. So that's two IRONMANs quite close together and then I'll look to do IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See which is part of the Pro Series as well. Then obviously, the Nice IRONMAN World Champs, so that's the next two.”
For more information on the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns visit:https://www.ironman.com/im-cairns
The Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns – Men’s Results
- Matt Burton – 7:45:24
- Braden Currie – 7:48:59
- Mike Phillips – 7:49:21
- Arnoud Guilloux – 7:50:59
- Tristan Olij – 7:54:32
- Joe Skipper – 7:56:51
- Mitch Kibby – 7:57:59
- Greg Barnaby – 7:58:30
- Nick Thompson – 8:07:15
- Josh Amberger – 8:08:24
IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns – Women’s Results
- Hannah Berry – 8:44:31
- Lotte Wilms – 8:46:53
- Kylie Simpson – 8:50:12
- Lauren Brandon – 8:52:33
- Rebecca Clarke – 9:03:43
- Fiona Moriarty – 9:05:53
- Ai Ueda – 9:06:50
- Giorgia Priarone – 9:09:05
- Kate Gillespie-Jones – 9:16:02
- Meredith Hill – 9:27:03