IRONMAN North American champions  Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) And Kat Matthews (GBR) reveals how to be Victorious

– Large field of professional triathletes converge on The Woodlands, Texas for the first full-distance IRONMAN triathlon of the IRONMAN Pro Series – Kat Matthews (GBR) overcomes a five-minute drafting penalty to defend her title and take the first IRONMAN triathlon win of the IRONMAN Pro Series – Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) wins his first ever IRONMAN, and becomes the first ever Mexican professional to win an IRONMAN triathlon, securing 5,000 points

THE WOODLANDS, Texas /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The Lone Star state and The Woodlands, Texas played host to the 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN^® North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, doubling as the second event of the IRONMAN Pro Series™, on April 27. In the first full-distance IRONMAN triathlon of the IRONMAN Pro Series, history was made as Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) stormed to victory in a time of 07:42:38, and Kat Matthews overcame a five-minute penalty to take the tape in a staggering 8:42:22.

With Rodriguez Hernandez’s outstanding day, he becomes the first Mexican pro triathlete to win an IRONMAN event and also qualify for the IRONMAN World Championship.

“It’s the best race for me, of my career, this was one of my biggest goals of the year I want to go to Kona – I want to go to Kona. I am really happy,” said Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez.

Overcoming adversity from early in the season, Matthews stayed focused on the end goal.

“It was great – it was good enough to take the win. I didn’t really think I would get to complete the entire race to be honest. I’ve had an interesting and very optimistic build after suffering injury seven weeks ago so I didn’t really know what the run would hold and I committed so well to the swim and the bike I can’t really believe it, a [personal best] really, significantly better than last year. I am internally proud and externally grateful for that experience. And the girls in second and third, Penny (Slater) and Lotte (Wilms), they pushed me all day. There was something about returning as last year’s winner – it felt like the entire crowd was cheering for me. I am grateful for everyone cheering for me,” said Kat Matthews.

Top Five Female Professional Results

Top Five Male Professional Results

The 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, saw nearly 90 professional athletes toe the start line as well as approximately 2,700 age group athletes. The event offered a professional prize purse of $175,000 USD and six female professional and six male professional qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship, the women’s race taking place in Nice, France on Sept. 22, and the men’s race taking place in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on Oct. 26. Following two events of the IRONMAN Pro Series, it is really showing that Every Second Matters with fast racing and close finish times creating drama and excitement.

News and Notes

• Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) makes history as first ever Mexican professional to win an IRONMAN triathlon, as well as being the first Mexican professional to qualify for the IRONMAN World Championship
• Rodriguez Hernandez had done one IRONMAN prior (IRONMAN Cozumel, 2023), where he finished 8^th.
• Rodriguez Hernandez ran a course best run of 2:34:14, beating Matt Hanson’s time (2:34:39) in 2018 by 25 seconds.
• Kat Matthews ran a 3:00:15 marathon to record the fastest run time of all the pro females.
• Florian Angert (DEU) and Lauren Brandon (USA) officially recorded the fast swim times of 48:06 and 51:46 respectively.
• The fastest T1 of the day was from Fenella Langridge (GBR) in a speedy 1 minute and 52 seconds
• Matthew Marquardt (USA) recorded the fastest bike time of the men’s pro field with a time of 4:03:23. Penny Slater (AUS) was the fastest on the bike for the females with a time of 4:39:39.
• Of the top 10 in the men’s and women’s professional field, United States had the most athletes with 6. Australia, Great Britain, and Germany all had 2 while Mexico, France, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, New Zealand, Denmark and Netherlands all had 1 each.
• Kat Matthews (GBR) repeats as Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas champion; in the process claims her fourth overall full-distance IRONMAN triathlon victory
• A total of 89 Professional triathletes started the race with 32 male pros and 25 female pros finishing fast enough behind the race winner to earn points towards IRONMAN Pro Series standings.
• Of the two IRONMAN Pro Series events, 77 males and 34 females have finished fast enough to earn points towards the end of the IRONMAN Pro Series total.

Full results for the 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series can be found at www.ironman.com/im-texas-results. For additional event information, please visit www.ironman.com/im-texas.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. How it works can be found here.

Victories for Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews ensured both athletes walked away with the maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points available for a full-distance IRONMAN triathlon of 5,000.

With strong performances today, Fenella Langridge (GBR) and Patrick Lange (DEU), now sit at the top of the IRONMAN Pro Series standings, having also collected points at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon earlier this month.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female (After Two Events)

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male

Full IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at proseries.ironman.com.

IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money

In addition to the IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7M year-end bonus prize pool, there is a per-event pro prize purse payout of $2,575,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. To date the IRONMAN Pro Series has paid out a total of $225,000 USD. Over $2.3-million USD remains to be claimed at the remaining events.

Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After two events)

Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After two events)

Next Events Coming Up

The 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series continues to heat up, with racing in the Greater Zion region for the Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George on May 4 up next.

Replay coverage of racing at the 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series is available on Outside+ for those watching from the United States and Canada; and for the rest of the world on proseries.ironman.com or IRONMAN’s YouTube Page

For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit proseries.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

###

About the IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB^®, Tarawera Ultra by UTMB^® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB^®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events including Haute Route^®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz^® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.