The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship sees the world’s best middle-distance triathletes face off in a spectacular annual event.
Introduced as a championship race in 2006, the 70.3 World Championship took place in Clearwater, Florida until 2010 before moving to Nevada for a short stint in Las Vegas. Now it (usually) moves to a different venue each year. We say “usually” because during the pandemic, the 70.3 World Championship was hosted in St George, Utah, in both 2021 and 2022.
Upcoming venues are as follows:
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- 2024: Taupo, New Zealand (December 14 and 15)
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- 2025: Marbella, Spain (November 8 and 9)
Taupo should have played host in 2020, but there was no event in that year due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The 70.3 World Championship is staged over the classic middle distance of a 1.2-mile (1.9km) swim, a 56-mile (90km) bike and a 13.1-mile (21.1km) run.
Who has won the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship?
Swiss superstar Daniela Ryf holds the record for most wins at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship with five victories. She also claimed the event three times consecutively in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay snapped the streak with a brilliant victory in St George in 2021. Short course star turned middle distance phenom Taylor Knibb (USA) won 70.3 Worlds in 2022 and 2023.
A number of men have won the event twice, in the shape of Australian legend Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander, German trio Michael Raelert, Sebastian Kienle and Jan Frodeno, Spanish great Javier Gomez and current king Gustav Iden (Norway).
Iden was the reigning champion until 2022, after claiming his shock first victory in Nice in 2019. We of course then had that one-year COVID hiatus before Gustav dominated again in 2021. With the Championship absent in 2020, Gustav won the biggest race of the season, the PTO 2020 Championship at Challenge Daytona. However a three-peat wasn’t to be, as countryman and former Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt took the win in 2022. It was young gun Rico Bogen’s turn for a shock victory in 2023. The young German athlete flew under the radar in the build-up, only to take the top step – becoming the youngest IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion in the process, just 22 years old at the time.
Previous winners are as follows:
PRO Women
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- 2006: Samantha McGlone (CAN)
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- 2007: Mirinda Carfrae (AUS)
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- 2008: Joanna Zeiger (USA)
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- 2009: Julie Dibens (GBR)
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- 2010: Jodie Swallow (GBR)
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- 2011: Melissa Rollison (AUS)
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- 2012: Leanda Cave (GBR)
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- 2013: Melissa Hauschildt (AUS)
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- 2014: Daniela Ryf (SUI)
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- 2015: Daniela Ryf (SUI)
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- 2016: Holly Lawrence (GBR)
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- 2017: Daniela Ryf (SUI)
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- 2018: Daniela Ryf (SUI)
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- 2019: Daniela Ryf (SUI)
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- 2021: Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
- 2022: Taylor Knibb (USA)
- 2023: Taylor Knibb (USA)
PRO Men
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- 2006: Craig Alexander (AUS)
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- 2007: Andy Potts (USA)
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- 2008: Terenzo Bozzone (NZL)
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- 2009: Michael Raelert (GER)
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- 2010: Michael Raelert (GER)
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- 2011: Craig Alexander (AUS)
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- 2012: Sebastian Kienle (GER)
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- 2013: Sebastian Kienle (GER)
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- 2014: Javier Gomez (ESP)
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- 2015: Jan Frodeno (GER)
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- 2016: Tim Reed (AUS)
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- 2017: Javier Gomez (ESP)
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- 2018: Jan Frodeno (GER)
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- 2019: Gustav Iden (NOR)
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- 2021: Gustav Iden (NOR)
- 2022: Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
- 2023: Rico Bogen (GER)
How to enter IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds
As with the IRONMAN World Championship – traditionally held at Kona each October – entry for the 70.3 World Championship is by qualification only.
IRONMAN offers a specific number of slots to PRO and Age-Group athletes each year from a designated calendar of races, giving them the opportunity to qualify.
The highest finishers in these races are offered the relevant slots. If athletes who are already qualified finish in those slots, the slots are then offered to the next unqualified athletes.
Prize Pool – how much money can be won?
The prize purse for the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo is $500,000 USD in total. 2024 is also the inaugural year of the IRONMAN Pro Series, which has seen athletes compete for points throughout the year to battle it out for a share of the $1.7 million dollar prize pool. The winner of the 70.3 World Championship race is worth 3000 points in the Pro Series, and could play a major role in who finishes at the top of the rankings. The IRONMAN Pro Series male and female winner will each get $200,000 dollars.
