Wanaka triathlete Braden Currie is back in the winner's circle after picking up his second Taupo Ironman title with a dominant performance on the cycle and run legs.
Currie was at the front of the field throughout the event - which was postponed from its orgininal date of March 6 due to Auckland's COVID-19 Level 3 lockdown - to see him claim a title that has eluded him since 2017 after finishing third at the past two races.
The Wanaka-native came out of the 3.8km swim in second place behind Kyle Smith before he started to dominate on the bike leg.
Currie was joined at the front by Smith and Mike Phillips for the majority of the cycle section before he made a slight move at the end of the 180km cycle leg.
The 34-year-old accelerated away from the chasing pair to lead coming into the transition just a second ahead of Smith, with Phillips just behind them.
Currie powered away on the run segment to finish with a time of 7h 57m 12s with Phillips finishing nine minutes behind in second and Smith, who was competing in his first Ironman, a further two minutes back.
In the women's, Hannah Wells - competing in her first Ironman event - won her first Taupo Ironman title with a time of 9h 1m 49s.
Wells was five minutes behind Rebecca Clarke after the swim before making her move on the bike.
The 28-year-old turned a five-minute deficit into a six-minute lead heading into the run course where she never looked back to beat Clarke who finished 14 minutes behind.
