A historic test awaits for more than 40 of the world’s top professional triathletes as the 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN® Pro Series kicks off at the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon in just under three weeks’ time. Taking place in Taupō, New Zealand, on Saturday 7 March 2026, the Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series season opener will unfold in the home of the world’s second oldest IRONMAN triathlon, where reigning champions Kat Matthews (GBR) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) begin their title defences.
The stacked start list also features returning ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand champions Regan Hollioake (AUS) and Mike Phillips (NZL), 2021 IRONMAN New Zealand winner Hannah Berry (NZL), and two-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion Joceyln McCauley (USA). Athletes from 15 nationalities make up a truly international line up and one of the deepest fields ever seen in 42 years of racing in New Zealand.
The Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series enters its third season in 2026 as the performance-based world series continues to showcase and reward the world’s top professional triathletes as they vie for prize money and points towards the title of Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series champion and their share of $1.7 million USD in year-end bonus pool payouts. The 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series will be contested over 16 events, including a combination of six IRONMAN and eight IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlons from around the globe as well as the IRONMAN World Championship® and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons.
The ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon will offer professional triathletes a total event pro prize purse of $125,000 USD and four qualifying slots per gender to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, on 10 October. As an IRONMAN triathlon, 5,000 Series points are on offer to the race winners in Taupō.
The race will be broadcast live and for free for all international audiences across IRONMAN YouTube and ironman.com/proseries, with additional regional live broadcast and highlight shows also available including L’Equipe Live, ESPN (within Disney+), SuperSport, and Outside TV.
In the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand women’s race, back-to-back IRONMAN Pro Series champion Kat Matthews (GBR) will line up in Taupō with her sights firmly set on securing the 5,000 points on offer for the win, setting up her IRONMAN Pro Series hattrick tilt early in the season. It’s a course the British athlete is familiar with, having finished as runner-up when Taupō hosted the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon. By starting her season in March, Matthews will hope to bank races, scores, and qualification early, allowing the two-time IRONMAN World Championship triathlon runner-up a longer runway into this year’s pinnacle event in Kona.
Australia’s Regan Hollioake will return to Taupō with ambitions of retaining the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand title she earned last year. After finishing sixth in the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series, Hollioake will look to open her 2026 campaign with a strong showing. Another former IRONMAN New Zealand champion returning to Taupō is home favourite Hannah Berry (NZL). The Kiwi continues to go from strength to strength, finishing fourth overall in the inaugural IRONMAN Pro Series in 2024 and backing that up with a ninth-place finish last year – her 2025 season highlight an impressive fourth place finish at the IRONMAN World Championship triathlon. Always one for the big occasion, Berry is a podium threat and will no doubt be roared on by the home crowd in Taupō. Also returning is two-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion Jocelyn McCauley (USA). The American, who will make her ninth start in Taupō, is a three-time IRONMAN World Championship top 10 finisher, including seventh in Kona last year.
If anyone but Matthews is to win this race, the decisive leg may well be the swim – setting the leaders up for a strong bike where they will hope to build enough of a lead to hold off the Brit on the run. The women’s field is stacked with fast swimmers, featuring Lotte Wilms (NLD), Rebecca Clarke (NZL), Fenella Langridge (GBR), and Stephanie Clutterbuck (GBR). Wilms comes into this race off the back of December’s gun-to-tape victory at the IRONMAN Western Australia Asia-Pacific Championship triathlon – a performance she’ll want to repeat in Taupō. If the Dutchwoman can stay healthy in 2026, she could put together a run of results similar to 2024 where she finished third overall in the IRONMAN Pro Series. Similarly, British duo Langridge and Clutterbuck will both hope to put health issues behind them this year and string together a series of performances that could see them challenging for a top 10 result in the year-end IRONMAN Pro Series rankings.
ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand podium challengers feature deep into the women’s start list, with last year’s third place finisher Nina Derron (CHE) returning to Taupō, while two-time IRONMAN Pro Series top 10 finisher Maja Stage Nielsen (DNK) is another consistent performer. Meanwhile, Danielle Lewis (USA), also a two-time IRONMAN Pro Series top 10 finisher, and Tamara Jewett (CAN) will hope to make their way through the field on the run to earn themselves significant points and prize money.
In the men’s race, Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) will line up in Taupō as the hot favourite. Already an Olympic gold medallist, IRONMAN World Champion, and IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, last year Blummenfelt further cemented his reputation as one of the all-time greats by claiming the IRONMAN Pro Series title, putting together a string of standout performances including victories at the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North American Championship and Mainova IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship triathlons, and podium finishes at the IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons.
Returning ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand champion Mike Phillips (NZL) is not one to underestimate. The Kiwi is a three-time winner in Taupō, setting a new course best time of 7:45:47 last year and the run course best in 2019. Having finished on the podium six out of the seven times he’s raced in Taupō, will his experience over IRONMAN New Zealand debutant Blummenfelt be a decisive factor in the race for this year’s title?
Another Kiwi who will fancy his title chances is Taupō local Kyle Smith (NZL). The homegrown star faced some health challenges last year, but should he rediscover the form of years past – which have seen the Kiwi claim multiple middle distance race wins and podiums, an IRONMAN New Zealand podium, and an impressive fourth place finish at the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon on home soil – Smith will be a force to be reckoned with. Trevor Foley (USA) also didn’t have the season he’d hoped for last year despite a breakout 2024 which saw the American win his maiden IRONMAN triathlon title in Lake Placid. Foley will travel to Taupō hoping to fare better than the last time he raced outside of the U.S., which saw him DNF in Frankfurt. Rasmus Svenningsson (SWE) is another athlete with podium potential. The Swede has already qualified for the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon courtesy of his IRONMAN Chattanooga triathlon victory last year, so has the opportunity to make every second matter in Taupō in pursuit of maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points.
Talent in the men’s field runs deep into the start list, with two-time Olympian Pierre Le Corre (FRA) set to make his IRONMAN triathlon debut, while consistent IRONMAN Pro Series performers Henrik Goesch (FIN) and Matt Hanson (USA), former IRONMAN New Zealand podium finishers Jack Moody (NZL) and Ben Hamilton (NZL), and 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship runner-up Fred Funk (DEU) all capable of challenging for podium positions on their day.
The 2026 edition of the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand and IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand event is set to welcome the biggest number of registered athletes in its combined history, with more than 2,600 age-group participants to line up alongside the professionals in Taupō. Those racing the ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand triathlon will be looking to earn age-group qualifying slots to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on 10 October, while those racing the IRONMAN 70.3 event will compete for slots to the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon taking place in Nice, France, on 12-13 September.
Below are the professional start lists (subject to change):
WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL FIELD
F1 Regan Hollioake AUS
F2 Kat Matthews GBR
F3 Hannah Berry NZL
F4 Jocelyn Mccauley USA
F5 Lotte Wilms NLD
F6 Maja Stage Nielsen DNK
F7 Danielle Lewis USA
F8 Nina Derron CHE
F9 Gabrielle Lumkes USA
F10 Rebecca Clarke NZL
F11 Steph Clutterbuck GBR
F12 Tamara Jewett CAN
F14 Fenella Langridge GBR
F15 Chloe Lane AUS
F16 Alexia Bailly FRA
F17 Hannah Knighton NZL
F18 Rhianne Hughes GBR
F19 Line Bonde DNK
F20 Katie Treston-Torney USA
F21 Mizuki Hirayanagi JPN
MEN’S PROFESSIONAL FIELD
M1 Mike Phillips NZL
M2 Kristian Blummenfelt NOR
M3 Rasmus Svenningsson SWE
M4 Trevor Foley USA
M5 Henrik Goesch FIN
M6 Matt Hanson USA
M7 Jack Moody NZL
M8 Ben Hamilton NZL
M9 Kyle Smith NZL
M10 Pierre Le Corre FRA
M11 Frederic Funk DEU
M12 Mitchell Kibby AUS
M14 Sam Osborne NZL
M15 Jack Sosinski AUS
M16 Yvan Jarrige FRA
M17 Andy Krueger USA
M18 Nathan Dortmann AUS
M19 Tom Somerville NZL
M20 Matt Kerr NZL
M21 Calvin Amos AUS
M22 Jamie Hayes USA
M23 Dylan Thissen NLD
M24 Robert Huisman NZL
M25 David Martin CZE
