Top female professional triathletes from across the region are preparing to go head-to-head for the Qatar Airways IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne title this Sunday 10 November.
More than 1,800 athletes will descend on St Kilda for Sunday’s Qatar Airways IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne, taking on a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run, with 15 professional female athletes set to line up.
The top seed in the women’s race is 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne champion Ellie Salthouse. The Brisbane-based athlete returns to Melbourne following a successful year to date, with wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong and IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder, and podium finishes at IRONMAN 70.3 St George and IRONMAN 70.3 Mont Tremblant.
“I love this race because it’s like a second home to me with a large portion of my extended family living down in Victoria, it’s so nice to have them in the crowd,” said Salthouse.
Salthouse is preparing to take on the best in the world at next month’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand, with IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne an important steppingstone in her final push towards December.
“I’m right in the middle of a big training block in preparation for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, so I’m using this race as a hit out and a great opportunity to try some new things,” said Salthouse. “I’m enjoying finally having a world’s block at home in Brisbane where I’m able to ride familiar roads and be at home with my swim squad, strength coach, family and friends. It’s a very conducive environment for having a great race.
“I’m really looking forward to the World Champs next month. My preparation is going really well and I’m excited to put down a performance I am proud of,” she said. “I haven’t quite nailed a World Championship event yet, so my goal is to produce a performance that I know I am capable of on the big stage. Being so close to home, I’ll have my family on the sidelines, which is always an added bonus.”
While Salthouse heads into the race as the top seed there are plenty of athletes out to make sure she doesn’t have it all her own way on Sunday.
Included in that group is Paris 2024 Olympic Games representative Natalie Van Coevorden. Van Coevorden recently stepped up to middle-distance racing, kicking off this new phase in her career with a fourth at September’s IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast.
The Sydney-based athlete dipped back into short course racing last weekend, with a third place finish at the iconic Garmin Noosa Triathlon.
Radka Kahlefeldt returns to Melbourne for the first time since 2022, with the Wagga Wagga-based athlete having had a number of strong results so far this year, including a second place at IRONMAN Australia and third at IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast.
Penny Slater heads into Sunday’s race off the back of being the top placed Australian at September’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France. Slater finished in seventh, her best ever result on the biggest stage in the sport.
“Nice was an awesome experience, and it really solidified for me that the training we are doing is really working,” said Slater. “I started working with a new coach at the beginning of the year who has really pushed and challenged me. Nice showed me the trajectory and work that needs to be done to be one of the best in the sport and has made me really excited for my future in long course triathlon.
“The preparation for Melbourne has gone almost as well as I could have hoped. After getting back from the World Championship we wanted to push the envelope with training a bit and see how much I could handle,” she said. “So I’m just coming off some of my biggest training weeks ever leading into the race. I will either be very fit or a bit tired, but it has been so nice to prepare for the last few races of the season at home and spend time with family and friends around training.”
Canberra’s Slater is set to line up at IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne for the first time and is looking forward to the city-based event.
“From following along in previous years, I'm most looking forward to that fast bike course. I went to a wind tunnel just before Nice and am excited to see how much speed I can get from those aero gains on a course like this where it really matters,” said Slater. “I'm also just looking forward to racing in Australia and seeing all the local crowd.”
Also set to line up on Sunday is Sweden’s Anna Bergsten, 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand champion, former IRONMAN New Zealand, IRONMAN Western Australia and IRONMAN Cairns champion Teresa Adam who returns to IRONMAN 70.3 racing for the first time in over a year and AFLW player turned triathlete Kate Gillespie-Jones.
The event will see athletes hit the water of Port Phillip Bay for the swim, with the ride taking in two laps of Melbourne’s famous Beach Road, before running a half-marathon along the St Kilda and Elwood waterfront, with the event culminating at the famous IRONMAN 70.3 finish line in Catani Gardens.
The Qatar Airways IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne is supported by the Victorian Government.
For more on the Qatar Airways IROMMAN 70.3 Melbourne visit: https://www.ironman.com/im703-melbourne
QATAR AIRWAYS IRONMAN 70.3 MELBOURNE – PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S START LIST
- Ellie Salthouse – Australia
- Natalie Van Coevorden – Australia
- Radka Kahlefeldt – Australia
- Penny Slater – Australia
- Chloe Lane – Australia
- Anna Bergsten – Sweden
- Teresa Adam – New Zealand
- Demi Birch – Australia
- Stephanie Demestichas – Australia
- Kate Gillespie-Jones – Australia
- Meredith Hill – Australia
- Angharad Llewellyn – New Zealand
- Sky Wallace – Australia
- Courtney Wevers – Australia
- Chloe Hartnett - Australia