Ironman Worlds: Kat Matthews ready to risk all in world title bid

The title of Ironman world champion holds a mystique that is difficult to quantify for many triathletes – and it’s an allure that  British favourite Kat Matthews certainly won’t measuring by the pay cheque.

The 33-year-old isn’t even sure how much is on offer for topping the podium in Nice on Sunday (it’s $125k), but is prepared to risk jeopardising a further potential $200k bonus payout by blowing up while chasing the win.

With two Ironman wins already in 2024, Matthews is currently very handily placed in the new Ironman Pro Series that rewards its top finisher at the end of a year with a $200k bonus.

And with World Championship race favourites such as Lucy Charles-Barclay and Anne Haug not in the running for the series,  a conservative gameplan on the Cote d’Azur might seem a sensible way of cementing Matthews’ position – especially because a failure to finish on Sunday would leave her Pro Series chances in ruins.

But when it comes to the 140.6 miles of arguably the most unpredictable Ironman World Championship in living memory, this iron woman plans to be anything but conservative, and is certainly not for turning.

“Yes, I’m willing to risk the entire Pro Series to win this race,” she confirms. “Nothing drives me and excites me as much as the Ironman World Championship. It’s just so much bigger; more than just a race.”

Not that Matthews isn’t undertaking other racing endeavours. Despite a calf injury in Miami T100 in March and a disqualification at Ironman Hamburg in June, the British army physio has managed to eke out victories and results elsewhere to be arguably the only triathlete left challenging on four fronts – the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 worlds, and the Ironman Pro Series and T100 Series.  

While it’s so far been a masterful plotting of the race calendar, it’s also clear where her heart lies. Right here. This weekend. “Training for a long distance event requires mental effort and capacity, and the enduring – whether it’s 8hrs or 16hrs – is just different and, to me, more important,” she says, adding that she also believes this will be the hardest race to win. 

“It’s a mixture between who is racing and the nature of the race itself: it’s a more challenging championship course than most people have ever raced.” Matthews pauses for a moment before offering clarification. “Ok, if Taylor [Knibb] turns up to Taupo, I could say I’ve got no chance of beating her, so that becomes the hardest to win, but equally I could argue I’ve no chance on Sunday with Lucy turning up!”

Matthews reaffirms the latter point by saying she’s never beaten her fellow Brit in a race [that Charles-Barclay has finished]. But there is also an air of eager expectation and self-belief in the Loughborough-based athlete’s ability to face down the challenge of the Maritime Alps, its 8,000-plus ft of climbing and twisting descents, as well as any of her rivals.

“It’ll be a course to show you are a proper cyclist rather than just a time trialist and I want that challenge,” she adds. “The hilliness of the bike course adds an hour to our overall race time and the women will need to get so much out of their comfort zone.”

Matthews believes there could be gains of up to 3min by showing superior descending skills in the closing half of the ride without any extra effort, yet contrasts that with the energy cost required to gain a similar amount of time on the earlier climbs or rolling terrain. 

“I’m also interested in the psychological differences between the women and men [who raced on the same course last year] in pacing strategies,” she continues. “I think the women will be stereotypically more conservative. But we saw last year that the men did well when they went for it, so will we see the women copy the men and will there be lots of blow ups, or will they exceed their expectations?”

Who the better cyclists will turn out to be Matthews isn’t sure, but is looking forward to finding out. She hopes to be among them but also picks out German favourite Laura Philipp, a triathlete she had a recent duel with in London T100, as a rider whose power and technical skills have impressed at close quarters.

While Philipp’s might be a good wheel to track at some point that’s not how Matthews’ mind is working though. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a coach about a strategy or targets. The multiple races I’ve done this year have only made me stronger, emotionally and physically, throughout the season. I know my body and I’ll attack the race as I see fit.”