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Meanwhile … down in Australia

Steve McKenna and Kylie Simpson take the wins at Ironman Australia

Photo by: Korupt Vision

With all the racing going on in Ibiza and St. George this week, it would have been easy to miss the results from one of Ironman’s most classic events – Ironman Australia.

The mostly-Aussie pro field saw a close race for the men’s podium with the top three running together for much of the marathon. Steve McKenna got to the line less than a minute ahead of defending champ Tim Van Berkel, with Sam Appleton rounding out the podium 2:30 behind.

“Everything in my life is triathlon now so it’s amazing, you go through dark patches in these races and you think I’m going to work for free today and not get paid but it was awesome,” said McKenna of his first Ironman title. “Everything goes in to trying to win an Ironman, it’s so much more prestigious than winning other races and I’ve never done, I’ve come second three times, it’s amazing.”

Photo: Korupt Vision

“In the swim Sam Appleton took it out really hard and it was a battle, it was real hard to hold on and then on the bike it was pretty comfortable, but towards the end those hills really started hurting and the run it was just shoulder to shoulder with someone the whole time, I just thought the only way I can win this is I make a break with 10km to go and I did and I just held on,” he continued.

 

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The win was Simpson’s third Ironman title – she won in Cairns and Western Australia in 2021. Simpson was the last pro woman out of the water, over 13 minutes behind swim leader Radha Kahlefeldt, the eventual runner-up. Ireland’s Fiona Moriarty rounded out the podium.

“It’s been a great day, the swim I came out of the water 13 minutes down, so that’s actually good for me,” said Simpson. “I wanted to take control of the race so getting on the bike I executed that fairly well and managed to come off the bike first, and then the run, that is definitely a strength of mine but it was tough today, that wind was picking up and I managed to hold on for the win.”

“With the bike course being two laps out on the new part and then one lap of the old course I could see where the girls were and I could see I was putting time into them and I caught three of four girls pretty quickly so that was a bit of a confidence booster,” she continued.

IRONMAN AUSTRALIA FINAL RESULTS

PRO MEN

  1. Steve McKenna – 8:06:16
  2. Tim Van Berkel – 8:07:03
  3. Sam Appleton – 8:08:46
  4. Mitch Kibby – 8:20:43
  5. Benjamin Hill – 8:31:35
  6. Matt Lewis – 8:46:41
  7. Liam Duval – 8:55:52
  8. Tuan Chun Chang – 8:59:32
  9. Brodie Gardner – 9:01:47
  10. Tyla Windham – 9:10:28

 

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PRO WOMEN

  1. Kylie Simpson – 9:16:45
  2. Radka Kahlefeldt – 9:25:04
  3. Fiona Moriarty – 9:33:15
  4. Meredith Hill – 9:39:57
  5. Chino Iwabuchi – 9:56:18
  6. Sarah Thomas – 10:02:42
  7. Shannon Sutton – 10:13:11