Sport
18 June, 2025
Clean sweep for US athletes
MATTHEW Marquardt and Jackie Hering have made it an American sweep of the top step of the podium at the Cairns Airport Ironman Cairns, claiming the men’s and women’s professional titles.
Marquardt became the first non-Oceania male to win in Cairns, crossing the line in 7h50m41s for his maiden professional Ironman triathlon victory, while Hering was all class as she took the tape in the women’s race in 8h42m15s.
West Australian athlete Nick Thompson was second over the line, less than three minutes behind Marquardt, with Australian-based Finnish athlete Henrik Goesch rounding out the podium.
“This was my third season as a pro and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had a lot of podiums, but I’ve never won,” said Marquardt.
“A lot of those races were really, really close. Lake Placid last year, I was leading for seven and a half hours and then got passed in the last 30 minutes, and so it was just always being so close. So, to actually get the win is incredibly meaningful and it was definitely a memory that I’ll keep forever,” he said.
“You never know when you’re going to have another one and so I really wanted to try and cherish it as much as I could because nothing is guaranteed in life, you never know what tomorrow brings.”
Athletes were faced with choppy conditions for the swim in Palm Cove, with South Africa’s Jamie Riddle hitting the front early and pushing on, finishing the 3.8km swim nine seconds up on Australia’s Amberger, with Marquardt hot on his heels.
Things quickly went south for Marquardt however, who limped his way through transition as he suffered from serious leg cramps, falling back to 16th early in the 180km ride, losing eight minutes to Riddle.
Once Marquardt got his cramping issues under control he began chipping away on Riddle’s lead, with Thompson and fellow Australian Ben Hill joining the South African at the front of the field. The top three swapped positions at the front over the next 150km before Thompson surged ahead, coming into transition in Cairns almost two and a half minutes clear of Hill, with Marquardt working his way up to third.
Thompson pushed the pace early on the run, opening up a four and a half minute lead over Hill, with Marquardt holding steady in third, before the American upped the pace, consistently taking time out of Thompson before moving into the lead with just over 10km to go and never looked back, crossing the line in front of thousands of spectators in the centre of Cairns.
In taking the victory Marquardt became the first male professional from outside Australia or New Zealand to win the event in its 14-year history.
In the women’s race Jackie Hering claimed an almost four-minute victory over defending Ironman Cairns champion Hannah Berry of New Zealand, with Australian-based Dutch athlete Lotte Wilms making it back-to-back podium finishes in Tropical North Queensland in third.
Hering’s performance on Sunday was all the more remarkable given she only made the decision to head to Cairns in the last week, after not finishing at the Qatar Airways Ironman Hamburg European Championship in Germany a fortnight ago, and she certainly made the most of her trip to Australia.
“It’s been awesome, I’ve been enjoying it since the minute I got here, and I think as an older athlete, it’s important to mix enjoyment with racing and really get to see some of the places that you go in a race. It helps to bring your general happiness level up, which allows you to race faster,” said Hering.
“So, I think I’ve maximised every moment I’ve been here and I’m so happy that the race went well. But just because I was enjoying the place, I had a feeling it was going to go well. Cairns is great, love it.”
