Tauranga triathlete Hannah Berry is gearing up for one of the pinnacle races in the sport, the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place in Lahti, Finland this weekend. 

An elite field from around the globe will descend on the Finnish Lake District with the women’s professional race on Saturday, August 26 and the men’s professional race on Sunday, August 27.

Amelia Watkinson, another Kiwi in the mix, will join a star-studded field of professional women for the race that features a 1.9km swim, 90km bike, and 21.1km run.

Tauranga's Berry will be making her debut at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, despite qualifying for previous editions.

She has suffered a number of injury setbacks over the past couple of years, but the four-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion knows if she’s feeling fit and healthy, she can put together a strong performance and compete well alongside the world’s best.

“My prep has probably been relatively short but really good at the same time. Due to injury after IRONMAN New Zealand I was unable to start back training properly until June, but since June my training has been very consistent and I have surprised myself with the data and numbers I have been seeing in my training over the last few weeks,” says Berry.

Tauranga triathlete Hannah Berry. Photo: Supplied.

“I have qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship multiple times before but unfortunately haven't made it to the race until this year due to sickness, COVD restrictions and injury. A successful race will be one that reflects the training I have done, and I am hoping that will also place me well overall too. I don’t have a specific placing goal for this one since it is my first world champs and also my first race back from injury, so it is very hard to predict how I will stack up. But I am feeling super confident with my form and am excited to see where I can end up,” she says.

Berry has spent the past few months overseas in preparation for this event, first in Noosa, Australia before heading over to Europe in July. She has been training at altitude in St Moritz, Switzerland for the past few weeks and will arrive in Lahti on Thursday ahead of the race.

“I’m very excited to race in Lahti,” says Berry. “The bike course looks flat on paper, but I have heard that in reality it is more rolling, although I am yet to experience it myself. I hope that it is a little more rolling as I tend to enjoy those courses more, so I think this could be a course I enjoy a lot.”

While Lahti, Finland is hosting the 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, next year will be Taupō’s turn to hold the prestigious event – its first time on New Zealand soil.

“Representing New Zealand on the world stage is a huge privilege. This is really what we dream about as athletes. I will be lining up on the start line in Lahti feeling incredibly grateful and will be taking a moment to reflect and appreciate how lucky I am to have the opportunity,” says Berry.

“Having Taupō host the next one is huge for us all and is a big reason why I wanted to come all the way over to Finland to race the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship this year – to get experience at an IRONMAN 70.3 worlds ahead of the 2024 world champs in Taupō.

“It is a race I would love to target, and I think Taupō is the perfect place to host the world champs. The race in Taupō is always so well run, the community is amazing and Taupō itself is a beautiful race venue. I can't wait for people from all around the world to come and experience it too,” she said.

Sunshine Coast-based Kiwi Amelia Watkinson, a seven-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion, has been working her way back into top shape after breaking her elbow in June last year and could be a real podium contender come Saturday.

“We decided to focus on the middle distance racing this year. It’s an exciting dynamic that suits my strengths in the sport and with so many high-profile events at this distance now it offers a lot of racing opportunities,” said Watkinson.

The Auckland-raised triathlete will tackle her second IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship and will be hoping she can better her impressive seventh-place finish from 2019.

“Top 10 at this level is an accomplishment. But I would definitely like to be further up the field and in the mix creating exciting racing,” she says.

“It’s my first time to Finland and I do love the opportunity to race in new locations. I think it’s a strong athletes course, which does suit me, fairly flat but enough undulations to keep it interesting,”

Aucklander Jack Moody will be the sole New Zealand male professional racing at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. He heads into Sunday’s race off the back of a confidence boosting third place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea in July and is hoping the course in Lahti will suit his strengths.

“I’m very excited to get to Finland, it's a country I have always wanted to visit. As for the course I have always been a fan of a lake swim and the bike course looks honest enough where I am hoping we can still see some separation with the rolling terrain. I haven't had a good look at the run course yet, but the profile looks Taupō-esque with a bit of rolling terrain so looking forward to scoping it out later this week as I think it’s where the biggest moves will be made for the day in terms of position changes,” said Moody.

The 29-year-old is still relatively inexperienced on the global stage, so has been using his time training and racing in Europe this year to prepare himself for a big summer of racing as he aims to qualify and best prepare for the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Taupō on home soil.

“It's really special for me to represent New Zealand on the global stage. I first got the opportunity to represent New Zealand in high school and promised it wouldn't be the last time,” he said.

“This year has been centred around ticking off as many cool races I have always wanted to do whilst learning and developing as an athlete. Come summer, the focus will be trying to qualify for world champs next year then a lot of next year will be about being as competitive as possible for a home world champs, potentially with some extended stints training on the Taupō course to maximise the home course advantage.”

The 2023 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon will kick off with the 1.9km ROKA Swim Course, which takes place in beautiful Lake Vesijärvi.

A challenging 91.3km FULGAZ Bike Course follows and will lead athletes through the stunning Finnish countryside, culminating with a steep incline just before returning to transition.

The 21.1km HOKA Run Course will take athletes on two loops beginning indoors at the Sport and Fair Centre, passing inside the Lahti Stadium and tackling a long climb up Salpausselkä ridge before making their way back towards Lake Vesijarvi.

The run path will showcase beautiful water views before culminating in an exciting finish line experience just in sight of the famous Salpausselka Ski Jumps.