Kat Matthews was all smiles, quite rightly, after another brilliant display at the IRONMAN World Championship on Sunday.
For the second time in three years the 33-year-old British star claimed second place on the biggest stage as she followed home Germany’s Laura Philipp after an epic battle on the French Riviera. Back in 2022 she had chased home the great Daniela Ryf in the delayed 2021 IMWC in St George.
Kat had other reasons to be delighted with her performance in Nice as well, notably when she takes a look at the updated IRONMAN Pro Series rankings after the dust settled on the Cote d’Azur.
Those standings show that Matthews is on the brink of claiming a huge $200,000 bonus for topping the rankings at the end of the 2024 season. She stands second behind American star Jackie Hering right now, but a deeper dive into how the rankings work shows that Kat is a red-hot favourite to take home that top prize at the end of the year.
Kat Matthews scenarios
Our expert John Levison explains: “Unless she doesn’t finish the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo on December 14, it is pretty much done.
“In simple terms, there are no full-distance races left (the big points), and Kat has her three, earning 5000, 5000 and 5515. Kat’s score total score is from only 4 races, so anything she earns at the 70.3 World Champs (or in theory, she could so the 70.3 Western Australia two weeks before, just to be sure), she will add all of that score.
“For the leader (Hering), she can only improve by scoring more points in a 70.3 than she has already. e.g. If she were to win the 70.3 World Champs she would get 3000. Her lowest score is 2297, so she could ‘add’ 703 points. If she was also to do that Australia 70.3 AND win that, she would only gain another 38 points, because she was second at 70.3 Chattanooga. So, her maximum possible is 18,834
“Kat currently has 17,836, so would need 999 to move past the absolute maximum that Herring could even possibly get, and anything within approximately 33 minutes of the winner in Taupo ticks that.
“It’s mathematically possible that Lotte Wilms (3 scores only, and all IM), or Hannah Berry (same) could still win – but they would likely both have to win the 70.3 Worlds and that Aussie race AND have both Kat and Jackie DNF.
“Broadly then, even the most staggeringly average finish from Kat in one of those two races will be enough – because she already has three brilliant IM scores (the biggest points), and a strong 70.3 result (Tallinn).”
Latest IRONMAN Pro Series Rankings – Pro Women
The rankings after that epic weekend in Nice, France look like this:
| Ranking | Name | Total points | Eligible Races |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackie Hering | 18,093 | 5 |
| 2 | Kat Matthews | 17,836 | 4 |
| 3 | Maja Stage Nielsen | 15,593 | 5 |
| 4 | Danielle Lewis | 15,416 | 5 |
| 5 | Alice Alberts | 13,319 | 5 |
| 6 | Lotte Wilms | 13,288 | 3 |
| 7 | Daniela Bleymehl | 12,856 | 4 |
| 8 | Hannah Berry | 12,674 | 3 |
| 9 | Fenella Langridge | 12,511 | 4 |
| 10 | Els Visser | 12,445 | 4 |
| 11 | Kylie Simpson | 12,185 | 5 |
| 12 | Penny Slater | 11,327 | 3 |
| 13 | Katharina Wolff | 10,962 | 4 |
| 14 | Erin Schenkels | 10,665 | 5 |
| 15 | Kate Curran | 9,898 | 5 |
| 16 | Lauren Brandon | 9,789 | 5 |
| 17 | Rebecca Clarke | 9,476 | 4 |
| 18 | Ellie Salthouse | 9,400 | 4 |
| 19 | Giorgia Priarone | 9,096 | 4 |
| 20 | Marjolaine Pierré | 8,500 | 3 |
How do the rankings work?
In this year’s brand new series, the points awarded at each race are determined by the event distance and winner’s finishing time. For the first placed athlete, a middle distance win is worth 2,500 points and a full distance race worth 5,000 points. Except that is for the IRONMAN World Championship (6,000 points) and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship (3,000).
At IRONMAN Texas for example, Kat Matthews earned the maximum 5,000 points, with each athlete behind her receiving a score based on the system that awards points for their individual finish time relative to the event winner.
For every second an athlete finishes behind first place, their tally diminishes by one point. In Texas for example, Penny Slater received 4,866 points after finishing 134 seconds (+2:14) behind Matthews.
IM Pro Series Bonus Pool Payouts for 2024
This is how much those ranking points are worth at the end of 2024
| Overall Points Rank | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| First | $ 200,000 | $ 200,000 |
| Second | $ 130,000 | $ 130,000 |
| Third | $ 85,000 | $ 85,000 |
| Fourth | $ 70,000 | $ 70,000 |
| Fifth | $ 50,000 | $ 50,000 |
| Sixth | $ 40,000 | $ 40,000 |
| Seventh | $ 30,000 | $ 30,000 |
| Eighth | $ 20,000 | $ 20,000 |
| Ninth | $ 15,000 | $ 15,000 |
| Tenth | $ 10,000 | $ 10,000 |
| TOTAL TOP 10 | $ 650,000 | $ 650,000 |
| 11-50 equal payments | $ 200,000 ($5,000 each) | $ 200,000 ($5,000 each) |
| Grand Total Bonus Pool | Â $ 1,700,000Â |
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
