News & Racing

Max Neumann Fourth At The 2022 Ironman World Championship

On a historic day, Australian Max Neumann put together the best performance of his career to finish fourth at the IRONMAN World Championship.

Shawn Smith

Oct 10, 2022 — 5 min read

Making his debut in Kona, Neumann completed the 3.8km swim, 180km bike, and 42.2km run in 7:44:44, a time that would have set a new course best had it not been for the three athletes who finished ahead of him.

The race was won by Norwegian Gustav Iden in a new IRONMAN World Championship best of 7:40:24, beating the previous course best time of 7:51:13 by more than 10 minutes. France’s Sam Laidlow finished second, with the 2021 IRONMAN World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt, also from Norway, third.

“It was hot, not much wind out there, I really suffered in the last 5k of that run. When you get so close to Kristian and the podium it hurts a little bit, but you can’t be disappointed with that fourth. It’s my first time here, I raced aggressively and I’m proud of the performance here,” said Neumann.

Iden and Laidlow made their World Championship debuts while Neumann and Blummenfelt made their Kona debuts, with all four men belying their experience as times tumbled.

“I’ve had three good races in Cairns, I think the last race was pretty similar to what I raced here just a bit quicker run. You’ve got to bring out your best on race day and that’s what everyone seems to struggle with so everything was fine out there today and I can’t complain about the body it was just the heat coming in there, trying to keep cool was impossible but it was still a good day though,” said Neumann.

Neumann was 13^th out of the water, part of a large lead group that included fellow Australians Josh Amberger, Sam Appleton and Nick Kastelein. He was fast through transition one and moved up several places to head out onto the bike in second.

But it was Laidlow who was soon the man to catch on the bike, setting a new bike course best on the way, with Neumann, Blummenfelt, Iden and the Dane Magnus Ditlev forming the lead chasing pack for the majority for the 180km bike.

Out onto the run in fourth, Neumann attempted to make an early move to break away from the Norwegians, but they were able to stay with him and then pull away around the 10km mark. Iden would go on to set a new run course best.

Neumann remained in fourth and capped an incredible performance with a 2:40 marathon to achieve a top five finish on his first attempt at one of the toughest races in the world.

“It was quick out there, there wasn’t much wind on the bike but for Gustav to run a 2:36 here is just phenomenal. I don’t think that will ever be touched, I can’t imagine anyone’s going to be running another 2:36 here. I ran a 2:40 but that’s still my best marathon time, but yeah, bittersweet but I’m proud of what happened,” said Neumann

Australia has a rich history at the IRONMAN World Championship, with seven male and four female titles, but Neumann’s fourth-place finish was the best result by an Australian male since 2013 when Luke McKenzie claimed second.

“I think all of us four broke Jan Frodeno’s record so you can’t complain about that result. Luke was an impressive racer and I’ve still got 10 attempts at least at this race so hopefully one day I’ll get there but at the moment I’ll just have a beer and a couple of sausages I think, I need some salt,” said Neumann.

Cameron Wurf was the best of the rest of the seven-athlete strong Australian contingent, completing the 226km in 8:00:51 for 11th.

“Well I performed to my number, I think it’s the first time I’ve done that. It’s the best run I’ve had, but unfortunately the other guys all did their best swim, bike and run but I’m rapt. It’s the best I could do, the big thing is it’s a championship and you have to give it everything you’ve got,” said Wurf.

“I always say you learn the most on the days where it’s most difficult, and today was definitely a difficult one. I just tried to not throw my toys out of the pram and get the best result I could with the preparation I’d done and what I came here with, and that’s what I think I did. Yeah, need to go away and work harder. It’s just great to be back, great to be back in the routine and great to be back here. I’m a routine man so hopefully now, year on year, we can get back to some normality and I can fight my way back towards the top.”

On a day when best times tumbled, Wurf says the standard of competition has rocketed in the three years since the IRONMAN World Championship was last held on the big island.

“Obviously the level has gone up so much, you used to have a handful of really good guys and you’d get away with an average day and still go ok but now you have a great day and you’re five, six, seven spots down the list,” he said.” It’s how you want it, it’s the one race in the year where the best all turn up at their best, we all know we have to be at our best here and you are where you finish, and that’s where you are for the next twelve months until you get the chance to come back and have another crack at it. It’s exciting now to turn the page on this one.

“Congratulations to all the guys that finished ahead of me, just class all around, some stellar performances, and Max Neumann fourth, the Aussie was great. I didn’t see him in the swim, I saw him off the start, saw him on the bike and saw him running and he looked fantastic and it’s really exciting for Australia that we have a couple of guys up there, well I put myself in there but Max is the one with a genuine chance at the moment of getting back up there, so I’ve got to go away and work hard and help him in out in that fight with the Europeans,” said Wurf.

Josh Amberger (24^th), Sam Appleton (36^th) Nick Kastelein (40^th), and Tim Van Berkel (42^nd) also completed the IRONMAN World Championship course, with Matt Burton unfortunately unable to withstand the conditions and retiring on the bike.