70.3 Geelong Pro Start List

?A talent-packed field will line up in Corio Bay on Sunday 22 March as the 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN® Pro Series moves onto its second stop at the IRONMAN® 70.3® Geelong triathlon. After an electric season opener in Taupo, New Zealand, attention now shifts to Australia where more than 60 professional triathletes will go head-to-head for the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong titles. With former champions returning, big names looking to rebound after Taupo, and several athletes hoping to arrive in peak form, Geelong is primed for one of the most compelling battles of the early racing calendar. 

The IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon will offer professional triathletes a total event professional prize purse of $50,000 USD and three qualifying slots per gender to the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event in Nice, France on 12-13 September. As an IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon, 2,500 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points are on offer to the race winners in Geelong. 

The men’s race features a showdown for the ages, as reigning and two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens (BEL), 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), and 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship runner-up Hayden Wilde (NZL) go head-to-head for the first time over the middle distance. The last time the trio raced was at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where Wilde took the silver medal.   

Geens, who lives on the Gold Coast in Australia, returns to Geelong as the defending champion but will face serious competition from Blummenfelt, in a repeat of their incredible battle at the 2025 Precision Fuel & Hydration IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon in Marbella – where Geens outsprinted Blummenfelt to clinch his second World Championship title by just three seconds. Blummenfelt will no doubt relish the opportunity to not only go head-to-head with Geens again, but to have another chance at victory so soon after finishing sixth at the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon in Taupo. It would take a brave person to bet against the Olympic champion, IRONMAN World Champion, IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, and reigning IRONMAN Pro Series champion. 

Geens will also face Wilde, another athlete he’s beaten to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title, having run away from the Kiwi in the final few kilometres of the 2024 edition held in Wilde’s hometown of Taupo, New Zealand. The two-time Olympic medallist had been building towards a short course race before turning his attention to the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon – and with Blummenfelt having raced an IRONMAN triathlon two weeks earlier, and Geens building towards his IRONMAN triathlon debut in Texas next month, Wilde’s short course speed could be a decisive factor in the race for the title in Geelong. 

Like Blummenfelt, Pierre Le Corre (FRA) and Kyle Smith (NZL) both head to Geelong after racing in Taupo with contrasting fortunes. Le Corre finished second in what was a highly impressive full distance debut, while Smith faded to 11th after a gutsy performance that saw the Kiwi lead for much of the race. Both Le Corre and Smith have won middle distance titles and could upset the top three seeds in Geelong. 

Leading the Australian charge at the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon is Jake Birtwhistle. The Tasmanian finished second to Geens in last year’s race and is a two-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion, including victory on the Sunshine Coast last September. Meanwhile, up-and-coming athlete Josh Ferriswill hope to continue the success of last year, which saw the Aussie earn two IRONMAN 70.3 titles and a second place at the IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast triathlon behind Birtwhistle. 

Kat Matthews (GBR) headlines the women’s race in Geelong. The two-time IRONMAN Pro Series champion began her 2026 campaign with a win at last weekend’s ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon in a new course best time, earning 5,000 points and an early lead in this year's Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series. The two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship runner-up will hope to secure another win in Geelong and bank 2,500 series points. 

Matthews’ two closest challengers will likely be Tamara Jewett (CAN) and Grace Thek (AUS). Jewett will be happy with how she started her season in Taupo, finishing fourth and running a 2:42 marathon to smash the IRONMAN New Zealand run course best. A five-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion and two-time top 10 finisher at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, Jewett is always a threat over the middle distance. Meanwhile, Thek will line up for her ninth consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon – a race she considers home and one that means more to her than any other. Thek has never finished off the podium in Geelong but has only once claimed the title – in 2023. 

Australia’s Milan Agnew will return to Geelong hoping for redemption after posting a DNF at last year’s race. The Sunshine Coast based athlete has the ability to podium over the middle distance, having won her maiden IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon on home soil in 2024 and last year finished third at the IRONMAN 70.3 Kraków triathlon and in the top 20 in her IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon debut. Another Australian hoping to put a DNF at last year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon behind her is Penny Slater. The Canberran will be aiming to kickstart her 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series campaign with a good points haul and rediscover the consistency that saw her finish 10th in the 2024 series. 

Meanwhile, Gabrielle Lumkes (USA) and Nina Derron (CHE) will arrive in Geelong hoping to build on their Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points total after finishing seventh and 12th respectively at last weekend’s ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon. 

The race will be broadcast live and for free for all international audiences across IRONMAN YouTube, ironman.com/proseries, and DAZN, with additional regional live broadcast and highlight shows also available including L’Equipe Live, ESPN (within Disney+), SuperSport, hr-Fernsehen, RTVE, iQIYI, and Outside TV. Broadcast and streaming information can be found at www.ironman.com/proseries/how-to-watch.  

The 2026 edition of the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong?event?is set to welcome more than 1,600 age-group participants who will race alongside the professionals. Those racing the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong triathlon will compete for slots to the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon taking place in Nice, France,?on 12-13?September.? 

Below are the professional start lists (subject to change):
 

 
For more information on the Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series visit here.
 
For more information on the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong visit?ironman.com/races/im703-geelong. To learn more about the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brands and series of events, please visit www.ironman.com.