The IRONMAN World Championship is the event every elite athlete wants to win, but first they have to make sure they are among the qualifiers.
Normally held in Kailua-Kona, on the west coast of Hawaii Island (‘The Big Island’), the race brings together the very best long-distance triathletes on the planet to compete for the coveted title.
The inaugural event back in 1978 was the brainchild of US Navy Commander John Collins and his wife Judy, with 15 competitors taking on the gruelling course.
The October 2021 version was postponed due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, and after a further reschedule from February 22 it will now take place in St George, Utah on May 7, 2022. It will then return to its spiritual home in October 2022.
US Navy Communications Specialist Gordon Haller was crowned as the first-ever IRONMAN Champion, finishing in 11:46:58.
Dave Scott, Paula Newby-Fraser, Mark Allen and Natascha Badmann are among an array of athletes that have since etched their name into the event’s history by claiming multiple Ironman World Championship titles.
2021 will be the 44th edition of the legendary competition, with up to 100 slots available across the professional men’s and women’s races, and hundreds more age-group athletes set to compete.
Jan Frodeno is the current course record holder for the men’s race, after his sensational 7:51:13 saw him clinch victory in 2019.
The year prior, Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf clocked a course record for the women’s race, finishing in 8:26:18.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic saw the event cancelled for the first time since its inception, before an initial rescheduling to February 2021 was pushed back. History has repeated itself on that regard, with February 5th 2022, hopefully, when we get back to racing in Kona.
Kona 2021 qualifiers
With a number of qualifying events taking place throughout 2021, athletes have been aiming to secure their places at Kona and both professional fields are set to fill. That qualification window (for the February 2022 race), is now closed.
Below is the list of names who have confirmed their places on the starting line:
PRO MEN (51)
- Bart Aernouts (Belgium)
- Emilio Aguayo Munoz (Spain)
- Josh Amberger (Australia)
- Florian Angert (Germany)
- Daniel Bækkegård (Denmark)
- Kristian Blummenfelt (Norway)
- Andi Boecherer (Germany)
- Alistair Brownlee (United Kingdom)
- Matt Burton (Australia)
- Tyler Butterfield (Bermuda)
- Leon Chevalier (France)
- Denis Chevrot (France)
- Braden Currie (New Zealand)
- Mario De Elias (Argentina)
- Andrea Dreitz (Germany)
- Adam Feigh (United States)
- Jan Frodeno (Germany)
- Henrik Goesch (Finland)
- Pedro Gomes (Portugal)
- Javier Gomez (Spain)
- Arnaud Guilloux (France)
- Matthew Hanson (United States)
- Ben Hoffman (United States)
- Kristian Hogenhaug (Denmark)
- Pieter Heemeryck (Belgium)
- Gustav Iden (Norway)
- Sebastian Kienle (Germany)
- Sam Laidlow (France)
- Patrick Lange (Germany)
- Chris Leiferman (United States)
- Sam Long (United States)
- David McNamee (United Kingdom)
- Justin Metzler (United States)
- Max Neumann (Australia)
- Patrik Nilsson (Sweden)
- Tim O’Donnell (United States)
- Mike Phillips (New Zealand)
- Jason Pohl (Canada)
- Kevin Portmann (France)
- Andy Potts (United States)
- Matt Russell (United States)
- Lionel Sanders (Canada)
- Joe Skipper (United Kingdom)
- Kyle Smith (New Zealand)
- Boris Stein (Germany)
- Rasmus Sveningsson (Sweden)
- Matt Trautman (South Africa)
- Jan Van Berkel (Switzerland)
- Tim Van Berkel (Australia)
- Michael Weiss (Austria)
- Cameron Wurf (Australia)
PRO WOMEN (45)
- Teresa Adam (New Zealand)
- Ruth Astle (United Kingdom)
- Nikki Bartlett (United Kingdom)
- Mirinda Carfrae (Australia)
- Lucy Charles-Barclay (United Kingdom)
- Haley Chura (United States)
- Judith Corachan Vaquera (Spain)
- Linsey Corbin (United States)
- Sarah Crowley (Australia)
- Chantal Cummings (United Kingdom)
- Flora Duffy (Bermuda)
- Kelly Fillnow (United States)
- Gurutze Frades Larralde (Spain)
- Tara Grosvenor (United Kingdom)
- Anne Haug (Germany)
- Heather Jackson (United States)
- Meredith Kessler (United States)
- Renee Kiley (Australia)
- Tessa Kortekaas (Spain)
- Chloe Lane (Australia)
- Fenella Langridge (United Kingdom)
- Carolin Lehrieder (Germany)
- Carrie Lester (United States)
- Justine Mathieux (France)
- Katrina Matthews (United Kingdom)
- Rachel McBride (Canada)
- Jocelyn McCauley (United States)
- Simone Mitchell (United Kingdom)
- Skye Moench (United States)
- Kimberley Morrison (United Kingdom)
- Angela Naeth (Canada)
- Lisa Norden (Sweden)
- Laura Philipp (Germany)
- Sarah Piampiano (United States)
- Daniela Ryf (Switzerland)
- Joanna Ryter (Switzerland)
- Laura Siddall (United Kingdom)
- Imogen Simmonds (Switzerland)
- Kylie Simpson (Australia)
- Maja Stage-Nielsen (Denmark)
- Sara Svensk (Sweden)
- Michelle Vesterby (Denmark)
- Amelia Watkinson (New Zealand)
- Hannah Wells (New Zealand)
- Laura Zimmermann (Germany)
Kona 2021 qualifiers – upcoming races
Qualification has now been completed for the IRONMAN World Championship 2021 in Kona, Hawaii.
When is IRONMAN Kona 2021?
The IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii will take place on Saturday October 9, 2021 Saturday February 5, 2022.
The pro men’s race will get under way at 06:25 local time (17:25 BST, 12:25 EST), followed by the women’s race at 06:30am (17:30 BST, 12:30 EST).
Facebook Watch will provide live broadcast coverage of the race via the IRONMAN Now Facebook Watch page, while NBC Sports will also provide coverage of the race for its cable subscribers.
