Ciaran Boyle shines once more at Ironman World Championships in New Zealand

Laghey triathlete Ciaran Boyle has earned a well-earned break over the Christmas period, after topping off 2024 with a strong finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in New Zealand.

Fresh from winning the Ironman 70.3 UK men’s 35-39 event in Weymouth, Boyle was again competing in a field featuring the world’s best athletes and a myriad of Olympians.

Not to be outdone, Boyle finished inside the world’s top 450 athletes from 3083 competitors.

The picturesque settings included rolling hills, a crystal clear glacial lake with snow-capped mountains on the horizon and brilliant sunshine in Taupo.

Boyle rocketed through the water for his 1.9km swim - shaving off almost 4 minutes off his best time.

He then powered through the 90km bike leg in 2:22:42 on a variety of challenging surfaces - somewhat like training around the roads in south-west Donegal, he remarked.

Boyle came home in the 21km half marathon run - cheered by a small but vocal crowd of travelling fans - in 1:30:06 to record a total time of 4:29:33.

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With his qualification for next year’s World Championships already secure with his Weymouth win, Boyle will now look to rest and recovery before suiting back up in June ‘25.

“My next big event is going to be Ironman Cairns, in June, I’m going to be making a few adjustments in my training to target that with the view to going even better in the World Champs next year,” he said.