Italian triathlon star Gregory Barnaby finished 9th at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship on Sunday, but it was still enough to see him come away more than $200,000 richer.
Barnaby’s top-10 finish in Taupō, New Zealand enabled him to overtake IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange and top the final standings in the inaugural IRONMAN Pro Series. That brought him the top bonus payout of $200,000 to cap a superbly consistent season.
Gregory had gone into Sunday’s race in pole position to claim that top bonus, with Lange having decided to call it a season after his epic third victory in Hawaii in October. And ninth place was more than enough as his main rival – American Matthew Marquardt – saw his bid ruined by cramps early in the bike leg. Lange and Denmark’s Kristian Høgenhaug completed the Series podium, receiving bonus payouts of $130,000 and $85,000 respectively.
In the perfect curtain call to Barnaby’s epic season of racing, Gregory exited the water in 14th place, eight seconds ahead of Marquardt, and then went on to bike himself into 10th place on a fast and furious bike race. In the meantime, Marquardt, who seemed to be struggling with cramps following the swim, had difficulty finding his trademark bike form, finishing the 90km bike course with a 14-minute deficit on the lead, and nine minutes behind Barnaby.
Barnaby remained strong and controlled throughout the 21.1km run, clocking a half marathon split of 1:12:05. With a finish time of 3:40:14 and a solid ninth position overall, he secured 2,515 points, cementing his place at the top of the standings with 19,059 points.
Barnaby on Pro Series glory
Speaking afterwards, Gregory said: “I’ve been doing triathlon for 20 years now and I’ve never earned in 20 years what I earned today, it’s amazing. It’s been an amazing year for me, a really long season, it was amazing to take the win in Western Australia, it wouldn’t have been the same to take the Series without taking a win in an actual race in the Pro Series so I’m really happy.
“Today was a bit rough at the start, I had a really tough start to the swim, and I was chasing all day and when you come out of the water a bit back from these guys it’s a really tough day. I was fighting all day, I was fighting back because I wasn’t feeling my best, I got back to ninth and I’m actually really happy with my performance, I kept my head in the race and super proud of how I finished.
“To cross the finish line and know that I’d won the Pro Series was amazing, what a day for it, the crowds out there were amazing, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a race with so many spectators, it was amazing, they really pushed me to that finish line.
“My focus was on [the IRONMAN Pro Series] this season, I haven’t really looked at the calendar for next year but for sure I’d like to try and defend my title,” Barnaby added.
Barnaby, who turned professional in 2021, had a breakout year in 2024, finishing in the top 10 for every Pro Series race he started. He had the ‘highlight of his career’ just two weeks ago at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Australia, taking the tape at an IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon for the first time ever. He also finished third at IRONMAN Frankfurt, where he outperformed high-level competition, including Lange, to take a 326-point advantage from that race.
Barnaby had enjoyed a promising start to his season at IRONMAN 70.3 Alcúdia-Mallorca, when he finished in third place, 23 seconds behind winner, Nicolas Mann, and just 16 seconds behind second place finisher, Jan Stratmann. As it would end up, that score would be replaced with his strong performance in Taupō, thanks to the elevated points on offer.
Barnaby narrowly missed the top five at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, eventually coming home sixth, but his competitive and tight racing still meant that he clocked 5,251 points which put him in excellent stead for the season.
IRONMAN Pro Series Standings 2024
When the dust had settled in New Zealand on Sunday, the final standings looked like this:
| Post | Name | Country | Points | Bonus (USD) | Prize Money* |
| 1. | Gregory Barnaby | ITA | 19,059 | $200,000 | $254,750 |
| 2. | Patrick Lange | DEU | 18,623 | $130,000 | $286,000 |
| 3. | Kristian Høgenhaug | DNK | 18,528 | $85,000 | $114,000 |
| 4. | Matthew Marquardt | USA | 18,132 | $70,000 | $99,250 |
| 5. | Matt Hanson | USA | 17,853 | $50,000 | $82,500 |
| 6. | Bradley Weiss | ZAF | 17,350 | $40,000 | $55,250 |
| 7. | Robert Kallin | SWE | 17,192 | $30,000 | $46,000 |
| 8. | Mathias Petersen | DNK | 16,648 | $20,000 | $29,000 |
| 9. | Braden Currie | NZL | 16,306 | $15,000 | $35,000 |
| 10. | Jonas Hoffman | DEU | 16,217 | $10,000 | $15,000 |
*Inclusive of bonus and individual event prize purses
The top 10 athletes in the series shared a total prize purse of $1.3 million, which was weighted according to ranking. Athletes ranking 11-50 all received a bonus of $5,000 each. The bonus pay out is in addition to any money earnt at individual races throughout the season.
