At the start of the season, Britain’s Kat Matthews shared her incredible schedule for 2024, which involved chasing titles on the T100 Triathlon World Tour and the IRONMAN Pro Series.

One month into the season, however, after suffering a calf tear on the run at the Miami T100, Matthews has revealed the extent of her injury, casting doubt on her ability to recover in time for her first full distance race of the year.

Sharing her thoughts on Instagram, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship runner-up admitted it would be a race against time to be ready for IRONMAN Texas on April 27.

Title defence in doubt

Having won the IRONMAN Texas title in 2023, Matthews was set to defend her crown and attempt to secure a slot in Nice next month in the Lone Star State.

Now, however, the British star is unsure of what lies ahead, with the 33-year-old explaining the psychological toll the injury has had on her.

“I’ve spent the last two weeks struggling, to be honest. I fully acknowledge that running provides me so much life/emotional stability and that without it, I am ‘unbalanced’.

“Acceptance of this spontaneous calf tear (mid race) hasn’t come easy at all because despite the overarching nature of the injury (overload), I nor my surrounding team of experts can find any indication of a ‘reason’ or even attempt to collate a multifactorial hypothesis. 

“It didn’t present like a ‘normal’ calf tear in the first few days. I pinned my emotion on hope/was in denial as I travelled home, but alas, it just turns out I was right. 

“I was pretty adamant I didn’t need imaging for something so obvious in nature but due to the unusual symptoms/feelings and the timelines of professional sport (upcoming race), I accepted the benefit of an MRI for aiding in rehab timeline planning.”

Tricky tear adds to recovery period

After having a scan, the results came back to confirm Matthews had a Grade 2C tear in her soleus, which she explained meant it was a moderate tear that involved the connective tissue, in this case the tendon.

As a result, the doctor’s advice was to “double the rehab time”, with the expected recovery timeline now at 8-12 weeks, meaning Matthews would be sidelined until almost the beginning of June.

With less than five weeks until she races in Texas, which takes place seven weeks on from her injury, the PTO World #9 has been left in limbo and unsure on what step to take next.

Stating that the injury update is “to be continued”, both the IRONMAN Pro Series and T100 Tour will have their fingers crossed for a quick recovery, as one of their star athletes looks set to miss out on some major races.