Andrew Messick shuts down Hamburg rumours, says retirement was planned

IRONMAN CEO Andrew Messick has rubbished rumours that his exit from the high-profile role had anything to do with the tragedy in Hamburg last month.

Following the controversial relocation of the IRONMAN World Championship venue, Messick and IRONMAN also came in for fierce criticism after a motorcyclist died in a collision at the German race.

However, in the most recent episode of The Triathlon Hour, Messick said his retirement was planned well before the incident in Hamburg, and that the decision to step down was his own.

Andrew Messick on retirement timeline

Messick revealed that he had initially intended to step down two days after the race in Germany, but following the fatality that timeline was delayed.

Andrew Messick, Paula Newby-Fraser and Yves Cordier (Photo by Tullio M Puglia, Getty Images for IRONMAN)

“I was actually going to announce my retirement two days after Hamburg, that was the plan, and then the incident happened and we said alright we cannot do that, because that’s just not going to work. The intention was to retire in June but the situation there just meant that wasn’t viable.”

Reiterating that it was his decision to step down, Messick explained that whilst he immensely enjoyed his time in the role, it had taken its toll and now felt like the right time to make a change.

Messick says time was right for change

“This was my decision and this has been one that was coming for a while. I’ve been sitting in this chair for twelve years and that’s a long time. It is not an easy business and there’s a lot of complexity and a lot of passion associated with it and you need a lot of energy to do the job.

“Coming out of COVID, it was really important for me to steer the ship and lead this organisation, and as I think about what the business really needs and how we are going to bring the continued development of Ironman and Ironman 70.3 in particular, the race business is a hard business and it is one where things don’t always go perfectly.

“It takes a lot of passion and a lot of energy and I have been doing it for a long time and I think that we will find someone fabulous as my replacement, but this was my call.”