Ironman Worlds: “There’s nothing else I could have done to win,” says Kat Matthews

Kat Matthews’ game-plan for the Ironman World Championship was perfectly executed, until it came unstuck on the marathon.

Whether the “low 2:40s” run she was aiming for would have been enough to get the better of Laura Phillip is now a moot point, but with the German running 2:44:59 after they dismounted the bike within seconds of one another, it would likely have been a nail-biting finale.

Instead, after Matthew’s delivered arguably the best swim-bike performance of her career, hamstring cramps through “muscle fatigue” in the second half of the marathon eventually meant that she ceded 8mins to a worthy adversary.

“It’s mixed emotions,” Matthews told 220 afterwards. “Laura was the better athlete on the day and there’s nothing else I could have done to win. I really know that, and it’s not just something I’m deciding for psychological reasons. I’m proud of the day I had and I’m gutted it wasn’t quite good enough.”

After a swim with the front pack that saw Matthews come out of the water in a better than expected 49:43, she set to work clawing back the deficit to France’s early leader Marjolaine Pierré on the bike. While Philipp caught her on the ascent to Col de l’Ecre, the day’s biggest climb, the two then swapped positions at the front, dropped Pierre on the long descent, and came into T2 together.

“All day I was like: ‘This is the best case scenario,’ Matthews added. “I was genuinely having a good time and thinking: ‘How is this possible in a world championship?’ It was really quite fun. My sole goal for the marathon was to go out hard and I didn’t have enough.”

As Philipp and Matthews headed out on to the run course, knowing 2019 champion Anne Haug was out of the race with an early puncture and 2022 winner Chelsea Sodaro was more than 10mins back, it was a battle for the title.

“I heard [that Haug was out] maybe halfway up the climb. To be honest it was always going to be that she was coming from behind and then it was always going to be Chelsea. I guess it was one other person out of the race. I was gutted for her, but positively, it was one less threat.”

Philipp breezed through the first half of the marathon in 1:20, with Matthews about 2min behind, yet seemingly on pace?

“I don’t preempt that before the race,” she explained. “After a couple of kilometres I thought I’d do one lap on feel and then I’ll do one lap on pace and then stick to heart rate and then see what the last lap is like. 

“But I got a bit unstuck because I had muscular fatigue issues that meant I couldn’t  keep the heart rate and pace going. I got to 28km and had spasms that held me back and then a proper cramp in my hamstring. I couldn’t run.”

The result, alongside two Ironman wins in Texas and Spain earlier in the season, puts Matthews in prime position to be crowned the inaugural champion of the Ironman Pro Series.

With a formula of having a point docked every second you finish behind the winner, Matthews’ bumper tally of 5,515 points in Nice means she’ll head to the Ironman 70.3 worlds in New Zealand as a nailed on favourite to take the $200,000 top prize as long she finishes.

“It did cross my mind when I was in the struggle bus,” Matthews added, underlining the Pro Series bonus gave her extra impetus to power through. “I was about 7-8km in front of Jackie [Hering, who was leading the series heading into Nice] and I think it cemented the Pro Series. Fingers crossed I finish in Taupo.”

Matthews’ coach Björn Geesmann was wholesome in his praise. “The only little piece that didn’t fit into our plan was a perfect Laura!” he said. “I do not know how to beat Laura on this course when she runs a 2:44 marathon. But they were both great.

“There was no big pressure from behind [Sodaro eventually finished 11mins behind], but a drop out would not have been what her performance today deserves. She’s the best ever [to coach]. So much fun, I learn so much and she is so dedicated to the sport.”