Kiwi triathletes Hannah Berry and Rebecca Clarke will go head-to-head in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i for the women’s edition of the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship alongside an impressive lineup of professional women.

For the first time in the event’s 40-plus year history, the spotlight will exclusively shine on female triathletes as Kona welcomes the first all-women’s race day at the IRONMAN World Championship.

The most iconic endurance event in the world will bring together over 50 of the world’s top professional female triathletes who will fight for a piece of the $375,000 USD female professional prize purse and the title of IRONMAN World Champion. Along with the professional field, over 2,200 age group athletes are registered for this historic event.

Berry will line up for her first IRONMAN World Championship race this Saturday, a debut two years in the making.

The 33-year-old qualified for this event in 2021 by winning IRONMAN New Zealand but injuries and the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from toeing the start line until now.

“I’m mostly feeling excited and grateful to be here, plus obviously a little nervous too, as always before a race. But it has been quite the road to get here with a few setbacks over the last couple of years, so just to be here feels like a big win for me,” says Berry.

“It feels so great. The field this year is seriously strong and deep with all the top women showing up fit and healthy, which makes it even better to be here and have the opportunity to race against all the incredible women in this sport.”

For nearly two years from 2019 to September 2021, Berry won or secured a podium finish at every event she raced. But injury niggles over the following two years stunted her progress, despite a handful of top three finishes.

Things have started to look like they are back on track for the past few months of this season, however.

A solid training block void of injury was followed by a debut at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in August where Berry finished inside the top 20, a decent result considering she hadn’t managed a whole lot of run training in the build up to that race.

The cherry on top, however, came in the form of victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel two weeks ago, her first race win since March 2021.

“This meant so much. The last couple of years had a lot of setbacks and for a while I honestly wasn't sure I was capable of winning a race again. It has taken a lot of work to not only get back to this level of physical fitness, but to find that belief in myself again.”

Having never experienced the conditions on the Big Island of Hawai`i, Berry has spent the past few weeks overseas, first in Mexico and now in Kona, to get used to the heat and humidity she will face on race day.

“My race prep over the last couple months has gone really well. We've been tripping around all over the place, and I've been able to experience some amazing places while also training in some ideal locations and climates to prepare for Kona. I have mostly enjoyed the heat actually, it adds another challenge to training for sure and you have to be really diligent with fuelling and hydration, but I enjoy the challenge and feeling of training in the warmer climates,” says Berry.

With her long-awaited debut just around the corner, Berry is just hoping to put together a solid performance on race day that reflects the progress she’s made this year.

“I don't have a finish placing goal as such, the field this year is looking to be very deep and strong, and I think it will be close racing between places until the end and therefore it is hard to predict where I might stack up placing-wise.

“For me, a successful race will be one that reflects the training I have been doing recently, and we will be able to tell this from both the data and splits on the day. Things have been trending positively all year, so I am feeling good for some decent numbers on race day and possibly one of my best IRONMAN races yet.”

Rebecca Clarke returns to Kona after making her IRONMAN World Championship debut last year. In preparation for this Saturday’s race she has spent the past six weeks training in Cairns, Australia, to get used to the heat and humidity athletes will face in Kona.

“I’m feeling excited, nervous of course but also grateful to be lining up at the World Championship with the best women in the world feeling healthy, fit and ready to go,” says Clarke.

“Race preparations and training have gone well. I had a six-week block of training in Cairns which was great to be settled in one place and get a big volume of training done without disruptions. It was quite windy there which was good practice for Kona, had humidity and warm temperatures, not quite as hot as Kona, but meant I was able to push workouts without too much heat stress. I've arrived in Kona just under two weeks out to acclimate to the specific conditions here and have time to ride the whole bike course.”

After securing 17th place at the World Championship in 2022, Clarke will be hoping she can put into practice the learnings she took from that race to put together an even better performance this time around and elevate herself further up the placings.

Last month Rebecca Clarke won her first IRONMAN 70.3 title in Mooloolaba. Photo: Sportograf.

“I learnt a lot from last year, different athletes and likely different conditions means you can't predict how the race will unfold but knowing how to manage myself in the heat with hydration and pacing I think is an advantage. Small mistakes from last year's race means I can put in strategies to avoid these, for example losing a front bottle early,” she says.

“I had a drafting penalty last year which affected my race so I will ensure, especially with the large field, that I don't ride into that zone when the group surges or slows. Last year there was always the concern of going too hard and risk blowing up so I'm more conscious and knowledgeable of where that line is and being strong towards the end of the run.

“A successful race this year would firstly have a strong performance across all three disciplines and making good race decisions. There are time targets to beat from last year, but conditions play a factor, so success isn't directly tied to a certain time. Results wise, improving on 17th place from last year is obviously a goal too, a top 15 I would be really happy with.”

Clarke heads into this weekend’s race feeling confident, hot off the back of last month’s victory at the Qatar Airways IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast – her maiden IRONMAN 70.3 title.

“Winning IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast was really satisfying to finally get that win and just have a strong overall performance across all three disciplines. Being in a big block of training I wasn't sure what to expect so it was a great confidence boost and to know training was on the right track for Kona,” says Clarke.

The 2023 IRONMAN World Championship will be a day that lives long in the memory of all those involved, be that racing, spectating or watching from afar, as Kona hosts a dedicated all-women’s race day for the first time in history.

Hannah Berry training among the lava fields of Kona ahead of the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship. Photo: Korupt Vision.

“I think having an all-women’s day championship will be great for all female athletes competing,” said Clarke. “It will be a fairer race for all females and really showcase how strong the pro women’s field is, and coverage solely focused on women is really exciting.”

“I think this is great for us to have our own day,” adds Berry. “It means we don't get lost amongst the men's race and can have a truly fair women's race on the day. And it will be nice for us to get full live stream coverage of our race too.”

Enjoy live race-day coverage of the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlon globally via www.ironman.com/live.

For more information about the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship women’s race in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, please visit https://www.ironman.com/im-world-championship-2023.