Max Neumann and Sarah Crowley have been crowned the winners of Ironman Western Australia in Busselton

Max Neumann and Sarah Crowley have won the 2022 Ironman Western Australia in Busselton in a day of tight finishes and firsts.

Max Neumann and Sarah Crowley have been crowned the winners of Ironman Western Australia in Busselton
Max Neumann sprinting for the line at IRONMAN Western Australia. Photo: Korupt Vision

Neumann crossed the line in 7:45:21, just one second off the course best time set by Alistair Brownlee in 2019, while Crowley’s win made her the first professional athlete in history to win all three Australian Ironman races in a calendar year.

Neumann was at the front of the field all day, with his victory following his win at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns in June and his fourth at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in October.

The Brisbane-based athlete crossed the line almost five and a half minutes ahead of Steve McKenna with defending champion Matt Burton a further five minutes behind in third.

“I’m feeling better than I did at the end in Kona but it’s bittersweet to miss the record by one second, to finish the year with another win here in Australia is special and means a lot, I enjoy racing here against the best Aussies and am very lucky to be able to do this,” said Neumann.

Neumann got word of how close he was to Brownlee’s time in the final stage of the run, with the 27 year old sprinting down the finish chute after 226km of racing.

“It was about eight minutes left, we had about two kilometres to go, so I did some quick maths and I thought the last thing I want to do is bury myself and end up in the medical tent,” he said. “I knocked it down in the last k and sprinted up the finish line and missed it by one second, it is what it is.

“The swim was nice and choppy and the conditions were actually quite hard, the bike felt like we had a headwind the entire way with the crosswind there, but all us top three rode solo which I don’t think I’ve ever been in a race where that’s happed in my entire career, it was as fair as they come and it was just whoever had the better run legs and luckily today I still had some freshness in the legs and came home with the win,” said Neumann.

Neumann’s win capped off an impressive year of racing at home and abroad.

On the Ironman side I don’t think I could have asked for much better, I mean missing out on the podium in Kona sucks a bit but the three guys ahead of me are probably the best three athletes the world has ever seen.
Sarah Crowley winning 2022 Ironman Western Australia. Photo: Korupt Vision

Sarah Crowley made history in taking the win in the women’s race, with it making her the first professional athlete in history to win all three Australian Ironman races in the same calendar year.

Crowley took victory in 8:46:10, almost five minutes ahead of the Dutch duo of Els Visser and Lotte Wilms, who were second and third respectively.

“I’m pretty tired, so excited, I still don’t really believe it, I was so focused today I think I’m finally waking up to what I just did,” she said. “I didn’t really think it was even possible until the very last kilometre, I was super focused.

“I really just ran my own race today, I had a strategy in the swim, it was try and go with Lotte, if not be with Radka and just try and separate everyone as soon as possible,” said Crowley. “Then once I caught up to Lotte I just did a huge pass and got that done, I think it made for a really fair race which made Lotte’s race really good for her first go as well, then Els ran through. I think because I had that little buffer I could relax into the run, eat and drink and get things sorted and execute a really good strong run and not feel like I had to destroy myself though my legs are feeling pretty destroyed right now.”

Crowley’s win in Busselton followed victory at May’s Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie and June’s Ironman Cairns.

“It’s a legacy now, it’s something I’ve done in the sport, I love Australia and it’s such a cool way to have a fabulous year after some pretty horrible ones with COVID and everything,” she said. “I’ve never been to this race and it’s just so good, I’ll process it and probably have to think a bit more about my words but I’m very happy with it.

“I’m ecstatic, I started out the season at a local race in Adelaide and I had no confidence, I’d had a couple of bad years and I had lost my confidence and had to build back in with local racing in Australia and that’s why I stuck to it with these races this year and now I feel like I executed what I needed to get done and even today it was making sure that those first two wins weren’t flukes and I’m really proud of that,” said Crowley.

IRONMAN WESTERN AUSTRALIA – FINAL RESULTS

Professional Men

  1. Max Neumann – 7:45:21
  2. Steve McKenna – 7:50:49
  3. Matt Burton – 7:56:09
  4. Mitch Kibby – 8:01:53
  5. Fraser Walsh – 8:22:05
  6. Jack Sosinski – 8:23:19
  7. Levi Hauwert – 8:22:05
  8. Lachlan Kerin – 8:26:36
  9. Matt Lewis – 8:30:06
  10. Joel Wooldridge – 8:32:52

Professional Women

  1. Sarah Crowley – 8:46:10
  2. Els Visser – 8:50:49
  3. Lotte Wilms – 8:52:53
  4. Kylie Simpson – 8:56:29
  5. Radka Kahlefeldt – 9:01:58
  6. Meredith Hill – 9:09:35
  7. Fiona Moriarty – 9:19:32
  8. Shannon Sutton – 9:20:48
  9. Laura Brown – 9:27:14
  10. Moya Johansson – 9:30:40