Four months ago they almost amputated his foot. Today he won the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship
With important Ironman Pro Series points on the line, an underdog comes up with the race of a lifetime for a dramatic win
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
To say it was an emotional finish would be the understatement of … well, let’s just say there were a lot of people pulling for Matt Burton as he pushed hard to hold off some of the world’s best triathletes today here at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Cairns, Australia. We’ll have more on Burton’s incredible story over the next few days, but as a short recap:
Burton came off what had previously been the race of his life, a runner-up finish at Ironman Western Australia last December, and was diagnosed with a deep bone infection in his foot. Heading into the a third surgery in February, Burton was told that if they didn’t think they could clean out the infection, they would have to amputate at least half of his foot.
He woke up after the surgery, and the foot was still there. It meant he could continue to pursue a career as a professional triathlete. Burton had won Ironman Western Australia in 2021, along with runner-up finishes to the likes of Alistair Brownlee (2021) and Daniel Baekkegard (2023), along with a raft of other podium finishes. There hadn’t been a lot of finishes atop the podium, but today he put that foot to good use, setting a new course record on his way to the biggest win of his career.
Four break clear in the water
The day began with a spectacular sunrise and near-perfect water conditions, which set things up perfectly for Andrew Horsfall-Turner (GBR) and Josh Amberger (AUS), who were first out of the water in 46:29 and 46:34, with defending champ Braden Currie and Italy’s Gregory Barnaby about 22 seconds back. Burton would come out in 10th, about four minutes behind the leaders.
Though the first part of the bike that group of four swim leaders was able to stay clear, but it wasn’t long before Burton was towing a big group up towards the front. By 60 km there was a group of seven in front that included Aussie up-and-comer Nick Thompson, Burton, Barnaby, Aussie Mike Phillips, Amberger, Currie and France’s Arnaud Guilloux.
On the second lap of the bike, heading up the climb to the spectacular  Rex Lookout, Amberger made a move and only Burton was able to follow. Burton would eventually pull away from Amberger, who would drift back to the group. By the end of the bike, Burton was almost six minutes up on a group that included Phillips, Great Britain’s Joe Skipper, Barnady, Currie, Amberger, and Guilloux.
A solid run enough for the win
It wasn’t long before Currie was in full chase mode. The Kiwi quickly moved to second and by the halfway point of the run had reduced the deficit to 2:46. Burton was hanging tough, though, and only lost a few more seconds over the next 10 km. Then, in the last 10 km, the gap started to grow again. As Currie’s charge for the win stalled, he suddenly found himself if a position of having to defend his runner-up position as Phillips found another gear and suddenly was moving towards the top three. The Kiwi would pass Guilloux, and then had his countryman in his sights.
Burton would cross the line in first, running a 2:44:08 marathon for a course-record 7:45:24. Currie would run the day’s fastest marathon (2:41:53) and beat his record-setting time of last year by over a minute with his 7:48:59, which was just enough to hold off Phillips (2:42:32 marathon for a 7:48:59 finish). Guilloux would have to settle with fourth in 7:50:59, with Tristan Olij (NED) taking fifth in 7:54:32 and Skipper finishing sixth in 7:56:51.
Even though they didn’t get the wins, today’s race was a good enough performance to keep both Currie and Skipper in the hunt for the Ironman Pro Series title – they’ll both be in Lake Placid in about five weeks to see if they can boost their points totals with another good finish. (Burton isn’t sure if he’ll try to pursue the series – he’ll let today’s big win sink in, then touch base with his coach.)
Top-10 Male Professionals:
- 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
