IRONMAN Ireland: The 2019 Kona Qualifiers

Who qualified for Kona at IRONMAN Ireland 2019?

The debut edition of IRONMAN Ireland, Cork, may have seen the epic weather conditions and a cancelled swim, but the revised Bike-Run format still saw 40 athletes qualify for the IRONMAN World Championships on Saturday 12th October 2019.

Those slots were accepted by athletes from 11 different nations. Irish athletes (8) topped the table by volume, with Great Britain next (7), followed by the Netherlands (5) and then Germany, Poland and USA (4 each).

Demand for Kona slots? You bet there is!

Reviewing the slot allocation would appear to confirm that qualifying for Kona is very highly sought after. The 40 slots were allocated as 11 to women, 29 to men, and the following table summarises that breakdown by age category – along with the lowest finishing position in that category who accepted a slot.

What does that tell us? Well, taking the female slots first, in only one category (60-64), did the available slots roll more than one place (in this instance, one slot was available and it was accepted by the third placed finisher).

It’s a very similar picture for the men, with the 65-69 division the only one where the available slots rolled more than one place (again, the one slot was accepted by the third placed athlete).

(NOTE – it’s quite possible (I don’t know the specific athletes in this instance), that even this may be ‘over-stating’ the extent of the already limited rolldown, given that one or more of the athletes who declined a place may have already qualified at a previous race).

The categories with the largest slot allocations – and the finishing positions that accepted the available Kona slots were:

• M40-44: 5 Slots – 1st / 2nd / 4th / 5th / 6th
• M45-49: 5 Slots – 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th
• M35-39: 5 Slots – 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th

For historical Kona slot allocations at previous UK & Ireland IRONMAN events, check out these links:

• CLICK HERE for Kona Qualifiers history at IRONMAN Wales
• CLICK HERE for Kona Qualifiers history at IRONMAN UK

Kona Qualifiers: IRONMAN Ireland, Sunday 23rd June 2019

Nirvana Europe is the Official Travel Partner to the European IRONMAN Tour. It has been providing athlete-friendly accommodation at IRONMAN events since 2005, as well as providing extra travel services to create stress-free experiences for both athletes and spectators.

There are incredible benefits of travelling with Nirvana to Kona this year, including transfers to and from the airport on the island, orientation tours of each leg of the race and a great house for events, product launches and workshops! Check out their full, customisable service offering here: https://www.nirvanaeurope.com/en/events/ironman/kona 

Athlete reactions to Kona qualification

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I went in knowing there would be one IRONMAN Kona spot in my AG and I had to win to get it. Well.. It’s definitely official now, I’m going to the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii!! That was the most insane conditions I’ve ever experienced with 20mph winds, non stop pouring rain, rough roads on the bike everyone just fighting to stay warm and finish. I knew I had to fight to the end because so many people had helped me get to that start like I couldn’t let them or myself down. —>for the awards presentation. If you even thought about doing this race do it, I have never in my life experienced crowd support like that, pouring rain and there were places with crowds 5 people deep!! 💚 💚 I was tearing up all through the awards ceremony I’ve wanted this so bad and worked so hard to try to make it happen. It never would have been possible without the support from my family, IRONMAN is not something you do alone. Thank-you for always believing in me and helping me chase my dream that’s now a reality. That family now includes my homestay Ted and Zara and their kids that were incredible this weekend making sure I had anything I could possibly need and giving me splits on course so I could push as hard as I could. 💚 💚 Thank-you to the people who believe in me enough to put their products behind me and help me reach this goal. @teammaccax Has been there since the beginning since my first attempt at @ironmantri. My @ventumracing One gave me an advantage eating up the road vibrations on those insane roads. @enveracing wheels were fast and stable in the wind, Venus was all tuned up by @crankedbikeshop and kept safe by @bikeboxonline1083 VeloVault2 my @lolalashbar lashes looked fierce in the downpour of rain. @triitmultisport made sure I had everything I needed to race and my @team_suunto kept me on pace. My @on_running had me running strong to the finish and my body held up with the help of @hughespt_yyc fascial stretch, @intrinsi.thrive bike fit and physio and @peakhealthcalgary Chiropractic’s. My coach Lucho from @enduranceplanet podcast, who has always believed in me and taught me mental strength so I could stay strong out there.

A post shared by Jenna-Caer Seefried (@jennacaer) on Jun 24, 2019 at 10:42am PDT

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#ANYTHINGISPOSSIBLE @ironmantri @ironmanireland @ironman_greece #dreamcometrue #ironmanworldchampionship #im703worldchampionship #roadtokona

A post shared by Roman Lacko (@roman_ehub) on Jun 26, 2019 at 1:46am PDT