A deep and gifted field of more than 110 woman and male expert triathletes will line up in Taupō, New Zealand next month to contest for the IM 70.3 World Championship title. The females will race on Saturday 14 December and the guys a day in the future Sunday 15 December, with an overall expert reward bag of $500,000 USD up for grabs. Over 6,000 age-group professional athletes will sign up with the specialists as they seem crowned world champ in their particular age-group departments.
The expert races in Taupō are set to sizzle as returning champs go head-to-head with Olympic medalists and middle-distance professionals for the desired title of IM 70.3 World Champion, with the winner taking home $75,000 USD.
Women’s Professional Race
Two-time IM 70.3 World Champion Taylor Knibb (USA) will line up in Taupō as the hot preferred to make a hattrick of titles. Probably among the very best triathletes on the planet today, Knibb is unbeaten in every middle-distance race she lined up for in 2024. The American will race her 4th IM 70.3 World Championship triathlon, with 2 wins and a 3rd location currently to her name.
Kat Matthews (GBR) and Imogen Simmonds (CHE) signed up with Knibb on the 2023 podium and will both be on the start line in Taupō wanting to address least one much better than in 2015. Matthews has had an extremely effective year of racing, highlighted by ending up as runner-up at the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Nice, France in September. Matthews presently sits 2nd in the IM Pro Series standings and requires to reverse a 257-point deficit to leader Jackie Hering (USA). Hering has actually finished her complete enhance of Ironman Pro Series races so can just switch out a lower scoring race, while Matthews still has one IM 70.3 rating to contribute to her overall, suggesting the British professional athlete will put all of it on the line in Taupō in pursuit of 2 titles and a huge pay day. Simmonds on the other hand has actually had a year of combined outcomes however having actually ended up 3rd two times at the IM 70.3 World Championship, she is never ever one to suspend on the most significant phase.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Julie Derron (CHE) has actually finished 3 IM 70.3 triathlons, completing on the podium each time consisting of triumph at the IM 70.3 Switzerland Rapperswil-Jona triathlon this year. Derron will be one to view in Taupō and will want to follow in the steps of her just recently retired compatriot Daniela Ryf, a five-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion.
Australian duo Ashleigh Gentle and Ellie Salthouse and Canada’s Paula Findlay are 3 of the very best middle-distance experts worldwide and will offer strong competitors to the similarity Knibb, Matthews, Simmonds and Derron. Mild is a four-time IM 70.3 champ and two-time Olympian, while Salthouse is an 18-time IM 70.3 champ with triumphes in 2024 consisting of the IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder and IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne triathlons. Like Salthouse in Boulder, Findlay has actually likewise won IM Pro Series races,