IRONMAN Cairns results: US star makes history with incredible win against all the odds

Matthew Marquardt prepared for IRONMAN Cairns 2025 by training on a cruise ship, but his road to victory in Australia on Sunday was anything but a cruise.

The 27-year-old documented on social media recently that part of his preparation for this epic test of endurance came on the Enchanted Princess as it toured around the Caribbean recently. A holiday with girlfriend Sarah Board to celebrate her graduation from medical school.

The vibe Down Under on Sunday was absolutely not cocktails and sun loungers as Marquardt – not for the first time – had to overcome serious leg cramps before going on to claim victory.

In doing so he made triathlon history, becoming the first non-Oceania male to claim the win in this iconic race.

It was also a maiden IRONMAN success for Marquardt after several near misses in recent years as he crossed the line in 7:50:41 – less than three minutes clear of West Australian Nick Thompson. Finland’s Henrik Goesch completed the podium.

“This was my third season as a pro and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had a lot of podiums, but I’ve never won,” said Marquardt.

“A lot of those races were really, really close. Lake Placid last year, I was leading for seven and a half hours and then got passed in the last 30 minutes, and so it was just always being so close. So, to actually get the win is incredibly meaningful and it was definitely a memory that I’ll keep forever.

“You never know when you’re going to have another one and so I really wanted to try and cherish it as much as I could because nothing is guaranteed in life, you never know what tomorrow brings,” he said.

Swim – Riddle hits the front

Athletes were faced with choppy conditions for the swim in Palm Cove, with South African star Jamie Riddle hitting the front early and pushing on, finishing the 3.8km swim nine seconds up on Australia’s Josh Amberger, with Marquardt hot on his heels. Things quickly went south for Marquardt however, who limped his way through transition as he suffered from serious leg cramps, falling back to 16^th early in the 180km ride, losing eight minutes to Riddle.

Bike – Marquardt back in contention

Once Marquardt got his cramping issues under control he began chipping away on Riddle’s lead, with Thompson and fellow Australian Ben Hill joining the South African at the front of the field. The top three swapped positions at the front over the next 150km before Thompson surged ahead, coming into transition in Cairns almost two and a half minutes clear of Hill, with Marquardt working his way up to third.

Run – Matthew runs to an historic win

Thompson pushed the pace early on the run, opening up a four-and-a-half-minute lead over Hill, with Marquardt holding steady in third, before the American upped the pace, consistently taking time out of Thompson before moving into the lead with just over 10km to go and never looked back, crossing the line in front of thousands of spectators in the centre of Cairns.

“I had a rough T1, both my legs totally seized, and so I lost a bunch of time there, but just wanted to stay with it and really wanted to push that last 65K on the bike because I knew that was into a headwind and that’s when people generally start to hurt a little bit,” said Marquardt.

“So that’s when I really wanted to make that the, quote, unquote, Matthew Marquardt section for the day and it brought back a lot of people. Then the run, it was just there. Everyone ran incredibly fast, so I was waiting and waiting for people to break, and it never really happened. It was just an incredible race all around today for everyone.”

In taking the victory Marquardt became the first male professional from outside Australia or New Zealand to win the event in its 14-year history.

“I mean, it’s incredibly cool to [to be the first male professional triathlete from outside of Oceania to win IRONMAN Cairns]. I signed up for this race on a whim and certainly didn’t have the most traditional build into this race with the cruise and everything in the long travel here, but I was really happy with the training that I put in in the off-season and I knew that a good race was there, I just didn’t know when it was going to present myself.

“So, to be able to put in a good performance and to be a groundbreaker, I guess, in that way is always incredibly meaningful and hopefully an inspiration to everyone else, because that’s really what drives me more than anything else is to be a role model to others and to inspire people to do things that they can do themselves.”

IRONMAN Cairns results

Sunday June 15, 2025 – Pro Men