IRONMAN Texas results 2025: Britain's Kat Matthews AMAZING as she beats Taylor Knibb in blistering record time

British triathlon superstar Kat Matthews roared to a sensational victory over US phenom Taylor Knibb in a blistering course record time at IRONMAN Texas 2025 on Saturday.

Matthews produced a stunning closing marathon to surge past the three-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, who was having just her second race over the full distance.

It was a third consecutive IRONMAN Texas victory for Kat, who said before the race that she was confident she could take down her brilliant American rival. And that confidence proved well-founded as she turned round a five-minute gap coming off the bike to take the top spot on the podium.

The win came in the fastest time ever by a woman in an IRONMAN-branded full distance race. Absolutely spectacular.

Kat Matthews ticker tape IRONMAN Texas 2023 [Photo credit: Kyle Rivas / Getty Images for IRONMAN] — Kat Matthews is a three-time IRONMAN Texas champion [Photo credit: Kyle Rivas / Getty Images for IRONMAN]

Swim – Knibb gets perfect start

Knibb, bidding to improve on that Ironman debut when she finished fourth in the 2023 World Championship in Kona, could not have made a better start. The US superstar was able to stay on the feet of leader Rachel Zilinskas (USA) for most of the 2.4-mile swim and came out of the water just seven seconds behind her in second place.

Another US star Haley Chura was third out of the water but exactly a minute behind the leader with Britain’s Stephanie Clutterbuck and Aussie star Regan Hollioake next – that pair were more than two minutes away.

After that it was all eyes on when Matthews would come out of the water, and Kat was 5:45 away as she headed into T1 to begin her catchup bid on the bike.

Bike – Taylor goes full gas, but Kat hangs in

Knibb unsurprisingly wasted little time before moving to the front of the race on the bike, could she now make that ridiculous prowess on two wheels tell over the full distance? We were about to find out.

Zilinskas did stick close to her illustrious riding partner for the first few miles of the bike, but eventually Taylor began to start opening a gap. Knibb’s awesome power quickly began to separate her from the rest as the race started to hot up.

By the time Knibb past through 50 miles on the bike, almost at the halfway stage of the leg, she led by 3:51 from Zilinskas while Matthews had moved up into third position, some 6:30 back. She was just about keeping pace with the triple IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion since they exited the water.

Knibb did start to inject more distance between herself and Matthews the further the bike leg went, the gap was up to 7:12 by the 64-mile mark. In between them were Zilinskas (at 5:32) and Austria’s Lisa Perterer (+7:11) in second and third.

The further they went, the more Knibb’s lead grew and with just over 20 miles until T2 she now led Matthews in second by 7:58 with Zilinskas third at 8:42 back.

With just 10 miles remaining on the bike, Kat was just starting to inch a little closer – the gap was now down to 7:01 with Perterer and Zilinskas a further two minutes back.

Knibb was still well clear at the front as she arrived in T2, but the American had a nasty moment as she tripped while dismounting and fell to the deck. She was up swiftly, with no apparent injury, and through transition to lead out onto the run. Her bike split was an incredible 4:19:46.

The gap to Matthews though had lessened significantly on the closing stages of the bike and Kat was now 5:18 away as she arrived in T2 following a brilliant 4:20:08 split.

It was now clearly between the two big guns for the win, could Taylor hold out in only her second ever full distance race? Or would Kat’s experience be the deciding factor? We were about to find out.

Run – Matthews roars to brilliant victory

Kat came out firing on the run course and immediately took 30 seconds out of Taylor in a single mile. The British star was all in on going for the win.

Taylor’s victory hopes were hampered further when she was forced to make a Porta Potty stop early on the run, and that along with Kat’s fiery start had really cut into her lead. The gap was now just 2:33 and they still had 22 miles to go.

The further they went, the more Knibb’s lead diminished and by the time the pair passed through 7 miles it was down to just 1:06. The blockbusting showdown we all dreamed off was absolutely happening, and pretty soon the gap was just 24 seconds with a pass surely not far away.

Knibb still looked steady and solid in her form, but Kat was absolutely surging and she stormed past Taylor as they approached the 10-mile mark. There was still a long way to go but the British star was looking incredibly strong.

Kat quickly built a load of 53 seconds as she passed through 11 miles, but there were signs she was now running just a little more conservatively in the Texas heat after that blistering start to her marathon.

Matthews was still stretching further clear as she reached the halfway point of the marathon, while Knibb was now reduced to walking pace at times as she looked to cope with the heat. The gap between the pair was now up to 2:36 and it was difficult to see a way back for Taylor. Kat’s first half marathon was a blistering 1:20:45.

Kat’s dominance was now total and as she approached 10 miles remaining her lead had grown to more than 5 minutes. Barring a complete collapse the win, and those valuable IRONMAN Pro Series points, were in the bag.

There would be no collapse for Matthews though – not even the merest hint – and she roared home to win in a sensational course record time of 8:10:34. Her day was topped off by a quite brilliant 2:49:19 marathon.

To put that time into context, it is the fastest ever by a woman in an IRONMAN-branded full distance race. Only Anne Haug and Daniela Ryf – both at Challenge Roth in the last two years – have ever gone faster. Quite incredible.