Another comeback win for Kat Matthews at Ironman Texas
For the second year in a row British star overcomes injury to take the win in The Woodlands, Texas
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Two years ago Kat Matthews (pictured above racing at last year’s Ironman World Championship in Kona) was riding atop the world of Ironman racing. A big win over then reigning Ironman world champion Anne Haug at Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote was followed up with a runner-up finish at the Ironman World Championship St. George in May. Then there was an impressive win at the Sub8 Challenge a little over a month later. All of which made Matthews one of the women to watch heading into that year’s second Ironman World Championship in Kona. Just weeks before the race, though, while training in Texas, Matthews was hit by a car – instead of racing for a world title, she found herself trying to just get back to pro racing.
Ironman favourite Kat Matthews hit by car while training in Texas
She did that in style, bouncing back with a podium finish the following spring at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, then a huge win at Ironman Texas. For 2024 Matthews is undertaking a challenging schedule, looking to compete in both the Ironman Pro Series and the T100 Triathlon World Tour. Things got even more complicated for the British star when she tore her soleus muscle in her calf at the first T100 race of the season in Miami.
Texas and comeback racing appears to work for Matthews, though, who battled through some calf issues along with a five-minute drafting penalty to successfully defend her title today.
Brandon leads the swim – of course
American Lauren Brandon regularly leads any swim that Lucy Charles-Barclay isn’t in, and she did that once again today in Texas, but had a lot of company as a five-woman pack that included the Netherlands’ Lotte Wilms, Great Britain’s Fenella Langridge, New Zealand’s Rebecca Clarke and Colombia’s Diana Castillo Franco. Matthews hit T1 about four minutes down.
Langridge and Wilms would lead the way on the bike, hitting T2 around five minutes up on American Jocelyn McCauley, Australian Hannah Berry and Matthews.
By the halfway point of the marathon, though, Matthews had moved through the field to take the lead, building up a buffer of over three minutes on Wilms by the 31.5 km timing split. Despite having to slow down to nurse her calf through the finish, Matthews was able to hold on for the win in 8:42:22, with Australian Penny Slater managing to run past Wilms to snag second in 8:44:36. Wilms rounded out the podium in 8:46:59.
