Perth man Matt Burton wins Busselton Ironman WA

Perth favourite Matt Burton has claimed the title of Ironman WA, crossing the line with a time of 08:01:33.

A highly anticipated victory, Burton finally took the crown after placing third and second in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

He said the milestone is an unbelievable achievement.

“You do something for so long, you never think this day will come,” he said.

“To be here today was the big win, and now I’ve finally put my name on a trophy.”

Despite being a solo sport, the seasoned triathlete says it takes a team to reach this point.

“It might be one of the most individual sports in the world where we’re very isolated all day but there’s so many people behind the scenes you know I have such a close supportive group of family and friends and people who treat me and keep my body in good condition with all I do is complain and whinge,” he said.

“To my mum and dad and to Kim’s, mom, Karen, thank you so much.”

The victory was made all the more sweeter after Burton’s wife, Kim, gave to the couple’s first child, Tom, on Monday.

Over the grueling 226 km swim, ride and run, the 33-year-old said it was his son that inspired him to keep going.

“I really battled that today, and it didn’t feel like it went my way at all but but I wrote on my bottle of ‘be like Tom’ because he didn’t know what was going on on Monday to come into the world and he just had the cop it t so I was like, you know what, I just got a cop it today and who would have thought I’d run to win.”

While the pair couldn’t physically make the trip down to Busselton to watch, the family were able to celebrate together over FaceTime.

The win sees Burton secure a spot in the Ironman World championship next year in Hawaii. He will also be competing in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Utah. A journey he cannot wait to share with his new family.

“Tommy boy we’re going to Hawaii,” he said.