IRONMAN Cairns 2024 Results: Burton and Berry take Asia-Pacific titles as Skipper misses podium

Australian Matt Burton and Kiwi Hannah Berry took the wins at IRONMAN Cairns on Sunday, with the pair also clinching the Asia-Pacific Championship titles on their way to taking the tape.

Burton, who took his first professional victory since 2021, also broke the previous course record set by Braden Currie and smashed the bike course record set by Team Ineos Grenadier rider Cam Wurf.

Taking the biggest win of her career, Berry, whose last full distance win came on her debut at IRONMAN New Zealand in 2021, outlasted Dutch pro Lotte Wilms and defending champion Kylie Simpson.

Pro Men

Out of the water, it was Britain’s Andrew Horsfall-Turner who led the way, with Australian Josh Amberger right on his feet, 30 seconds ahead of defending champion Currie and Italian Gregory Barnaby.

Nick Thompson, in fifth, was +3:24 down on the front, and headed up a group that also included Mike Phillips and Burton. Joe Skipper, splitting 52:51, was within touching distance of the chase pack, +6:22 down from Horsfall-Turner up front.

On to the bike, Currie and Barnaby quickly reeled in the leading pair, with Burton working his way to the front over the first half of the bike and taking the lead at the 116km mark.

A front pack of six, that also include Phillips, Currie, Barnaby, Amberger and Frenchman Arnaud Guilloux, was quickly blown to smithereens by the Western Australian, who built a buffer of more than five minutes over the last 70km of the bike, splitting 4:05:54.

On to the run, Currie quickly moved to the front of the chase pack, but Burton was holding strong up front after his record breaking bike leg, passing through halfway in 1:20:26.

Matt Burton wins IRONMAN Cairns with a new bike record. — [Photo Credit – Korupt Vision]

With 10km to go, Currie was within two and a half minutes, but could get no closer, as Burton took a memorable win in a new course record of 7:45:24, running a 2:44:08 marathon on his way to victory.

Currie, in second, put an end to a difficult last 12 months of racing, with Phillips rounding out the podium in third. Guilloux was fourth, ahead of Dutch pro Tristan Olij and Britain’s Joe Skipper in fifth and sixth.

Pro Women

In the women’s race, Wilms was first out of the water in a time of 50:38, and was joined at the front of the race by American Lauren Brandon, plus Kiwi athletes Rebecca Clarke. Berry, in fourth, was +2:26 back from the leading trio.

Out of transition, Berry lost additional time to the front group, with her deficit growing to over three minutes at one point, before the PTO World #32 started to get to work and slowly reeled in the front of the race.

By the halfway mark she was +2:34 down, before really making inroads over the final 70km. Moving past Clarke, who had been dropped, the former IRONMAN New Zealand champion started the run +1:16 back from Wilms and Brandon.

Out of the gates, Berry was only surpassed by Kylie Simpson as the fastest runner on course, but the defending champion was +15:35 down at the start of the marathon and did not appear to be in with a chance of winning.

Up front, Berry passed Brandon at the 6.7km mark, and moved by Wilms at the 10.5km checkpoint, as she took the lead for the first time. From there, her gap to the rest of the field, minus Simpson, kept building, as she took the biggest win of her career.

Hannah Berry took the win at IRONMAN Cairns in Queensland, — [Photo Credit – Korupt Vision]

In second, Wilms clinched another regional championship podium, after finishing third at IRONMAN Texas, with Simpson breaking three hours for the marathon to come home in third. Brandon finished in fourth, with Clarke rounding out the Top 5.