Matthew Marquardt (USA), Lionel Sanders (CAN), Chelsea Sodaro (USA) and Lisa Perterer (AUT) are the headline names on the recently-released professional start lists for IRONMAN Cozumel on Sunday 22 November, the last chance outside Australasia this year to qualify for Kona 2027.

The IRONMAN Latin American Championship in Mexico offers four slots per pro gender and a $100,000 prize purse. Only IRONMAN Western Australia on 6 December remains on the 2026 professional full-distance calendar after Cozumel, with another four slots per gender available there.

And just like IRONMAN Florida last weekend it has attracted big fields and big names as athletes look to lock in a Kona spot to give themselves more flexibility next year.

Marquardt and Keulen bring Kona form to Cozumel

Marquardt wears M1 in the men’s race after finishing third at last month’s IRONMAN World Championship.

Youri Keulen (NED) also delivered in the heat in Hawaii, running a 2:42:04 marathon to finish ninth.

Lasse Nygaard Priester (GER) would be making his full-distance debut if he starts in Mexico. The rising German star finished fifth at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice and told TRI247 earlier this year that racing the longer distance was increasingly appealing as he gained experience over the middle distance – read our interview here with Priester.

Sanders is targeting a return to the full distance in Cozumel after illness forced him out of Challenge Xiamen. Full details on why Sanders switched to Cozumel here.

Sam Long (USA) and Matt Hanson (USA) are listed, but both raced at IRONMAN Florida, with Hanson running through to third in Panama City Beach to take the last Kona slot.

Long had publicly weighed up Florida and Cozumel as options for qualifying early but doing both seems unlikely.

Leon Chevalier (FRA) is also entered, along with Michele Sarzilla (ITA) and Nick Emde (GER), fourth and fifth in Cozumel last year.

Perterer back as defending champ, Sodaro on comeback trail

Perterer wears F1 after winning in Cozumel by more than 21 minutes last November. The Austrian had vascular surgery on her right leg the following month and suffered a bike crash in April, but worked her way back to finish sixth at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

The 2022 world champion Sodaro tested positive for influenza A on the eve of this year’s Kona race and said she was “devastated to say the least” after feeling healthy in the build-up for the first time since her win four years previously.

“Sport can be incredibly cruel but I also know that the sun will come up tomorrow and there are more start and finish lines ahead for me,” she wrote. She subsequently appeared on Florida’s provisional list before dropping off the updated field.

IRONMAN Cozumel 2026 pro men’s start list

Bib	Athlete	Nation
M1	Matthew Marquardt	USA
M2	Sam Long	USA
M3	Youri Keulen	NED
M5	Jon Saeveras Breivold	NOR
M6	Matthew Hanson	USA
M7	Michele Sarzilla	ITA
M8	Jonas Hoffman	GER
M9	Michael Weiss	AUT
M10	Lionel Sanders	CAN
M11	Lasse Nygaard Priester	GER
M12	Kristian Grue	NOR
M13	Luke Tasker	CAN
M14	Fernando Toldi	BRA
M15	Justin Riele	USA
M16	Nick Emde	GER
M17	Sven Thalmann	SUI
M18	Leon Chevalier	FRA
M19	Lars Lomholt	DEN
M20	Blake Harris	CAN
M21	Pamphiel Pareyn	BEL
M22	Flavio Morandini	ARG
M23	Robert Wilkowiecki	POL
M24	Alessandro Fabian	ITA
M26	Fabian Dutli	SUI
M27	Eduardo Perez Sandi	MEX
M29	Niek Heldoorn	NED
M30	Mathias Lyngsø Petersen	DEN
M31	Thomas Inigo	USA
M32	Mathieu Merland	FRA
M33	Julian Becker	GER
M34	Tomasz Szala	POL
M35	Deak Zsombor	ROU
M36	Branden Scheel	USA
M37	Olaf Van Den Bergh	NED
M38	Florian Kandutsch	AUT
M39	Joaquin Pereda	MEX
M40	Matthew Morabito	USA
M41	Jan Kepinski	POL
M42	Thomas Walsh	IRL
M43	Bruno Slegers	BEL
M44	Rafael Camara	BRA
M45	Kevin Ahl	CAN

IRONMAN Cozumel 2026 pro women’s start list

Bib	Athlete	Nation
F1	Lisa Perterer	AUT
F2	Chelsea Sodaro	USA
F3	Anne Reischmann	GER
F4	Julie Iemmolo	FRA
F6	Loanne Duvoisin	SUI
F7	Ekaterina Shabalina	KAZ
F8	Cecilia Perez	MEX
F9	Katie Colville	USA
F10	Arlette Gonzalez	MEX
F11	Carolyn Olsen	USA
F12	Mimi Carlton	GBR
F13	Camilla Elofsson	SWE
F14	Eloise Du Luart	FRA
F15	Michelle Krebs	SUI
F16	Sandra Huon	FRA
F17	Carolina Fernández Ortuño	ESP
F18	Gabrielle Suver	USA
F19	Angela Naeth	CAN
F20	Jess Smith	USA
F21	Leslie Homol	USA
F22	Sloane Tilley	USA
F23	Caitlin Alexander	USA
F24	Lirany Gómez	COL
F25	Anna Bergsten	SWE
F26	Annette Rogers	USA
F27	Marie Luyckx	BEL
F28	Maaike Vooren	NED
F29	Sarah Spooner	USA
F30	Hannah Rössler	AUT
F31	Lauren Burgett	USA
F32	Kelsey Barnholt	USA