Hannah Wells and Braden Currie have claimed victory at Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand, with Wells winning on her Ironman debut.

For Braden, it's the Wanaka-based multisport athlete's second Taupo title.

Hannah took out her inaugural Ironman title, after coming out second in the swim five minutes behind Rebecca Clarke. Hannah made up the time and more on the bike leg, taking a lead of more than six minutes into the run and going on to finish nearly 14 minutes ahead of Rebecca.

'This means so much, I can't even put it into words,” says Hannah. 'Huge thanks to the organisers who have been through many changes, and to my sponsors and family.

'I had a plan and I wanted to stick to it, I just wanted to execute my best race. There were always going to be surprises and tough moment. I had a rough swim and the second half of the marathon was tough but I'm really stoked to make it to the finish line.

'I'd like to have another go, I think I can do better. This event is amazing and hopefully I can compete in Cairns in June depending on travel circumstances,” says Hannah.

After Rebecca led the swim, Hannah dominated the race with Emily McNaughtan maintaining a steady pace and finishing third.

In the men's event, a tightly fought run saw Braden push hard through the final stages to take the title nearly nine minutes ahead of Mike Phillips. Taupo local Kyle Smith came a close third in his Ironman debut.

Braden was towards the front of the pack all day, finishing the swim leg second to Kyle. Under a second separated the three top male athletes, Kyle, Braden and Mike Phillips, at the end of the bike leg, with Braden taking the lead and dominating through the run.

Thousands of spectators lined the gates of the 2021 Ironman New Zealand home stretch in Taupo yesterday.

'I had a really good day and worked really hard on the first lap of the bike, knowing that when the race came together and Kyle and Mike were there with me, as long as I stayed consistent and looked after myself, I'd run well,” says Braden.

Coming off the bike, Braden powered ahead dominating the run right through until crossing the finish line in 1^st place with a time of 7:57:12.

'I looked at my watch early in the run and was running a 3:05/km pace and at that point I knew I was going to have a really good run, but I told myself I should probably slow down a bit,” says Braden.

After not only winning Ironman New Zealand on debut but also breaking a course record in 2017 the Kiwi husband and father-of-two states it was ‘pretty special' to win a race that means a lot to him, again.

'That first win here on debut was a bit of a fluke to be honest and I probably didn't give it the credit it deserved at the time,” says Braden.

'I kind of shrugged it off and thought I must have just had a really good day so it's been a solid win today after a few years of fighting for it again. It's a long time since I've raced well here and I'm really proud of how it played out today.”

He enjoyed having his family nearby.

'It's beautiful to have my family here. My wife and kids have been on this journey with me every step of the way. Bella and Tarn are really starting to understand what's going on; having a Dad as a professional athlete, they probably didn't fully get that as babies. It's nice to show them how the hard work we've all put in can turn into the result I know they'll be super proud of today”.

The next focus for the athlete will be the Ironman World Championship.

Ironman results

MEN

1 Braden Currie, NZL, 7:57:12

2 Mike Phillips, NZL, 8:06:38

3 Kyle Smith, NZL, 8:08:53

4 Jack Moody, NZL, 8:18:23

5 Ben Phillips, NZL, 8:19:59

6 Simon Cochrane, NZL, 8:24:39

7 Lucas Duross, NZL, 8:51:26

8 Cameron Brown, NZL, 8:58:47

WOMEN

1 Hannah Wells, NZL, 9:01:49

2 Rebecca Clarke, NZL, 9:15:38

3 Emily McNaughtan, NZL, 9:38:42

4 Melanie Burke, NZL, 10:05:12