When IRONMAN announced the decision to split its World Championship between Kona and Nice, it was a watershed moment for the sport of triathlon.
The most famous race series in swim/bike/run said it was left with no option with Kona authorities not willing to sanction racing on two separate days following the format’s ill-fated debut in 2022.
Lessening the sport’s ties to its spiritual home on the Big Island of Hawaii was a controversial move – one which was designed to ensure women and men get their own race day each year, their own deserved moment in the world’s sporting spotlight.
But while it did achieve that aim, there was another spin-off – one which many said went against the ethos of the sport. Men and women would no longer be racing at the same venue at the same time. McCormack was one of the critics of the decision at the time, and two years on he still feels just as strongly.
Macca on Nice/Kona split
Speaking to TRI247, the two-time IRONMAN World Champion explained his continued misgivings in a forthright take on where the pinnacle of long-distance triathlon stands right now.
“The Nice/Kona split doesn’t work for me with the men and women racing on different courses,” he explained.
“Men and women should be on the same day. Same course, same World Championship. Splitting men and women is a debacle.
“I’m happy for them to go to different venues every second year, and Nice seems to work. Kona still needs to be Kona, but splitting it the way it is and the way it’s done now has been only detrimental to the sport. I think Ironman would have to agree with it.”
‘The sport’s gone backwards’
McCormack had even stronger words about what he perceives to be the state of long-distance triathlon in the aftermath of the split. They do not paint a pretty picture.
“The sport’s gone backwards 20 years, maybe more. The sport was better 20 years ago than it is right now. I think it’s broken. I think it’s bad, and I think they’ve missed the dynamic and I guess the soul of what triathlon and Kona means to this sport.
“And by splitting it the way they have and thinking they can get away with it was a big mistake.”
