Sam Long (USA) Repeats While Paula Findlay (CAN) Tops the Field at the 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George Triathlon

May 5, 2024

- Sam Long (USA) sets new course best time of 3:39:17 and Paula Findlay (CAN) earns second win in St. George while both earn first race wins in the IRONMAN Pro Series™ securing 2,500 points each

ST. GEORGE, Utah /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – Stunning St. George and Southwestern Utah played host to the 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN^® 70.3^® North American Championship St. George triathlon today, doubling as the third race of the IRONMAN Pro Series™. The race saw Sam Long (USA) repeat as a winner in St George, setting a new course best with a time of 3:39:17, while Paula Findlay (CAN) pulled away from the women’s field to take the tape in 4:09:27.

“That back-to-back title sounds really good right now I must say,” said Long following his victory. “I realized I could break two hours as I was nearing the top of Snow Canyon, but I got to stay on the gas. My whole goal coming into this race was to execute a great run. So even though I had a lead I was very process oriented and was just loving it out there to be honest.”

“It was good, it was a hard race,” said Findlay on the finish line. “The swim was actually quite comfortable and I really wanted to break away on the bike, so I used the hills to my advantage. What I like best is climbing, so my whole goal for this race was to be brave on the downhills. This course is so so challenging, it’s like climbing a mountain. Great crowd support, loved the course.”

Top Five Female Professional Results

Top Five Male Professional Results

The 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George saw nearly 90 of the world’s top professional triathletes toe the start line as well as approximately 2,000 age group athletes. The event offered a professional prize purse of $75,000 USD and four female professional and four male professional qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand on December 14 and 15.

News and Notes

• Sam Long (USA) put down a dominate performance at the Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George setting a new course best time of 3:39:17 beating Lionel Sanders time of 3:41:13 set in 2018.
• With the victory, Long claims his second IRONMAN 70.3 victory of the year after winning IRONMAN 70.3 Pucón in January. Long has finished on the podium in his first three IRONMAN 70.3 appearances of 2024, winning in St. George and Pucón and finishing second at the Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside.
• Paula Findlay recorded her second victory across five appearances in St. George having also won in 2018. Findlay, who has consistently performed well in St. George, also had a second-place finish in 2019 and fourth place finish in 2021, and also added a second-place finish at the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George.
• Connor Weaver (USA) ran the fastest run split of the day of 1:08:34, while Jackie Hering (USA) ran a 1:21:22 run split to record the fastest run time of all the pro women.
• Nicholas Quenet (ZAF) and Kate Curan (GBR) recorded the fastest swim times of 22:46 and 25:46 respectively.
• The fastest transition of the day was from Sam Long (USA) in 1 minute and 2 seconds at T2.
• Sam Long (USA) recorded the fastest bike time of the men’s pro field with a time of 1:59:57 setting a new bike course best surpassing Sebastian Kienle’s bike split of 2:01:18 set in 2018. Paula Findlay (CAN) was the fastest on the bike for the women with a time of 2:16:41.
• Of the top 10 in the men’s and women’s professional field, United States had the most athletes with 6. Canada had 3. Australia and South Africa had 2 each. Austria, Great Britain, Germany, France, Poland, New Zealand and Spain all had 1 each.
• A total of 82 Professional triathletes started the race with 45 male pros and 15 female pros finishing fast enough behind the race winner to earn points towards IRONMAN Pro Series standings.
• After three IRONMAN Pro Series events, 100 men and 47 women have finished fast enough to earn points towards the end of the IRONMAN Pro Series total.

Full results for the 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George can be found at www.ironman.com/im703-st-george-results. For additional event information, please visit ironman.com/im703-st-george.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. How it works can be found here.

Victories for Sam Long (USA) and Paula Findlay (CAN) ensured both athletes walked away with the maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points available for an IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon of 2,500, moving Long into sixth place on the men’s overall standings and Findlay into ninth on the women’s overall standings.

Danielle Lewis’ sixth place finish today takes her to the top of the overall IRONMAN Pro Series standings among women, while Kylie Simpson moved up to fourth overall with her points earned today.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female (After Three Events)

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After Three Events)

Full IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at proseries.ironman.com.

IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money

In addition to the IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7M year-end bonus prize pool, there is a per-event pro prize purse payout of $2,575,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. To date the IRONMAN Pro Series has paid out a total of $300,000 USD. Over $2.2-million USD remains to be claimed at the remaining events.

Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After three events)

Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After three events)

Next Events Coming Up

Next up is the first European race of the IRONMAN Pro Series with Zafiro IRONMAN 70.3 Alcudia-Mallorca taking place on May 11. Approximately 80 professional triathletes are slated to take part on the Baleric Island and triathlon haven of Mallorca.

Replay coverage of racing at the 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George is available on Outside+ for those watching from the United States and Canada; and for the rest of the world on proseries.ironman.com or IRONMAN’s YouTube Page

For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit proseries.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

** Terms and Conditions: Photography and Video is provided courtesy of IRONMAN for news and editorial coverage and is not to be archived. Any commercial use or other use of the photos is strictly prohibited unless a separate written license is obtained from and signed by an authorized representative of IRONMAN. Additional terms and conditions can be found here. Usage of materials constitutes acceptance of terms. **

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About the IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN^® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN^® 70.3^® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB^®, Tarawera Ultra by UTMB^® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB^®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events including Haute Route^®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz^® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.