With the IRONMAN Pro Series now well and truly underway, IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga will host the next stop of the tour this weekend, in a middle distance matchup that marks the fourth stop of the series Stateside. .
Leading the women’s race, Great Britain’s Emma Pallant-Browne will hope to pick up another pro series win after victory in Mallorca, with Canadian Jackson Laundry leading the line on the men’s side.
In our preview piece below, you can find all the details you need on start times, streaming and who to watch out for in the professional men and women’s fields.
Start times and how to watch live
IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga will take place on Sunday May 19. The professional race will begin at 06:50 local time, which corresponds to 03:50 on the West Coast, 11:50 in the UK and 12:50 in Central Europe.
The race will be broadcast live, with the event the fifth race this year to be broadcast on the dedicated IRONMAN Pro Series app. You will be able to watch for free on race day via the IRONMAN Pro Series website.
As always, the ever reliable IRONMAN Tracker is the perfect data addition to support your viewing. If you haven’t got it on your phone already, where have you been?!
Pro Men
Leading the pro men is Laundry, one of Canada’s brightest middle distance talents, who will be racing off the back of strong performances at both IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga.
Having recently been given a wildcard to race at the San Francisco T100, Laundry will be eager to sharpen his sword against a strong domestic field in Chattanooga, which features a number of top American pros.
Whilst Matthew Marquardt, who broke on to the scene with an incredible rookie year in 2023, is out with a stress fracture, Trevor Foley will take his place, having recovered from a bad concussion sustained in a bike crash that kept him out of Oceanside and Texas.
The young gun, representing the Sunshine State, will race for the first time this season, and will look to go head-to-head with Laundry and other more established professionals such as Matt Hanson, Cody Beals and Justin Riele.
With two spots for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo on the line, and Laundry already qualified, it will be a real battle to see who cans secure their slot for New Zealand at the end of the year.
Pro Women
On the women’s side, EPB will face off against some stiff competition as she looks to make it back-to-back victories and add to her podiums in Oceanside and Mallorca already this year.
Sarah True, one of the hardest working athletes in the sport, will be racing, with Americans Danielle Lewis, Jackie Herring and Alice Alberts all toeing the start line as well, as the trio bounce back from solid performances at IRONMAN Texas.
Jodie Stimpson, a former Commonwealth Games gold medalist for England, starts her season on the series in Chattanooga, and it will be fascinating to see how the Brit can do against some more experienced middle distance racers.
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is $50,000 – with each of the winners collecting a $7,500 share of that total.
As part of the IRONMAN Pro Series, athletes will also earn points as they seek to become the IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and win a share of the $1.7 million bonus prize purse.
In Chattanooga, the maximum possible score will be 2,500 points for 1st place, with points for all remaining professional finishers diminishing based on the time deficit to first place, at a rate of 1 point per 1 second deficit to the winner’s finishing time.
In addition to money and series points, there will be a total of four qualifying slots (two MPRO + two FPRO) for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand, December 14-15 2024.
The total funds will be paid ten-deep, as follows:
- $7,500
- $5,000
- $3,750
- $3,000
- $2,000
- $1,500
- $1,250
- $1,000
