In-form Hanson closing in on automatic Collins Cup spot

After winning at IRONMAN North American Championship Des Moines, Matt Hanson has now turned his attention to the second half of 2022 – namely the PTO races and Kona.

The American finished three minutes clear of his closest competitor, Andre Lopes, in Iowa earlier this month, during what was another successful performance after his second-placed finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga in May.

Speaking on his YouTube channel this week, Hanson reviewed his fourth North American Championship title win as well as his plans for the upcoming months.

Collins Cup qualification

His victory at Des Moines vaulted Hanson up 11 places in the PTO’s rankings to #8, making him the leading American male, just ahead of Sam Long.

And understandably he believes he is in a strong position to automatically qualify (as one of the top four men and women) for the 2022 Collins Cup and represent Team USA for a second year in a row.

“That was one of the big objectives out of that weekend to put together a good enough race to solidify me in the top four, I think I have more than accomplished that,” said Hanson.

“But there is still a lot of racing between now and then so we will see what everybody else does.”

For the time being though, Hanson says he will be taking some ‘downtime’ before preparing for his next event.

When he returns to full training, the American will not just be thinking about the Collins Cup however, with a busy sequence of high-profile events in the offing.

“I am going to go to Canada and try to put together a great race there [the PTO Canadian Open in July], hopefully then the Collins Cup, the US Open and then IRONMAN World Champs and 70.3 Worlds,” he concluded.