IRONMAN Australia: Start times, preview and how to follow live

IRONMAN Australia takes place this weekend, as New South Wales welcomes a host of top local triathletes to Port Macquarie.

Featuring defending champion Steve McKenna, plus seasoned professionals such as Tim Van Berkel and Radka Kahlefeldt, the race for the titles and a slot at the IRONMAN World Championship will be hard fought.

In our preview piece below, you can find all the details you need on start times, how to follow and a full rundown of the professional fields.

Start times and how to watch live

IRONMAN Australia will take place on Sunday May 5. The professional men will start at 07:15 local time, with the professional women starting one minute later at 07:16.

This corresponds to 22:15/22:16 in the UK, 17:15/17:16 on the East Coast and 14:15/14:16 on the West Coast, on Saturday May 4.

Whilst there is no live stream in NSW, the ever reliable IRONMAN Tracker is the perfect data addition to follow the race live. If you haven’t got it on your phone already, where have you been?!

Pro Field

Leading the lineup on the men’s side is McKenna, the winner here 12 months ago, who just days before the race welcomed his second child before rushing up to race in Port Macquarie.

[Photo credit: Korupt Vision]

Last year’s second and third place finishers, Van Berkel and Sam Appleton, return in 2024, but will have to work hard to take the crown from McKenna, who recently won IRONMAN New Zealand.

From across the ditch, Mike Phillips will hope to his fourth place finish in Taupo behind him and bring home some hardware, after a disappointing trip over to Australia last time around at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.

Other contenders on the men’s side include Finnish athlete Henrik Goesch, Australian Benjamin Hill and Kiwi duo Matt Kerr and Scott Harpham.

Kahlefeldt pictured on the left at IRONMAN Cairns 2023 [Photo credit: IRONMAN]

On the women’s side, Kahlefeldt is head and shoulders above the rest of the start list, and will be the heavy favourite to improve on her second place performance behind Kylie Simpson from 2023.

Regan Hollioake, in her rookie season, looks set to be her biggest competitor, but with only one slot to Nice available, all eyes will be on first place in New South Wales.

At 53 years of age, Dede Griesbauer continues to impress, and is in with a shot of her first podium since 2021, as the American races her 20th season as a professional.

Prize Money: What’s on the line?

The prize purse on offer this weekend is $75,000 – with each of the winners collecting a $12,000 share of that total.

In addition to money and series points, there will be a total of two qualifying slots (one MPRO/oneFPRO) for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and Kona later this season.

The total funds will be paid ten-deep, as follows:

$12,000

$7,000

$4,250

$3,500

$2,750

$2,250

$2,000

$1,500

$1,250

$1,000

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