Surprise news for IRONMAN UK, Bolton
There will no doubt be plenty of diary checking and race (re)scheduling going on right now amongst professional athletes, with the news that Supersapiens IRONMAN UK in Bolton (which last featured a Pro field in 2018), is set to welcome back the elite on Sunday 4th July 2021.
Not only that, but on checking the ‘subject to change’ PRO Schedule on the IRONMAN website, that purse has been announced as $100,000, alongside two male and two female qualifying slots for the IRONMAN World Championship. That purse split will apply as follows, paid 10 deep:
1st – $15,000
2nd – $9,000
3rd – $7,000
4th – $5,000
5th – $4,000
6th – $3,000
7th – $2,500
8th – $2,000
9th – $1,500
10th – $1,000
IRONMAN 70.3 Ireland on 14th August ($30,000) and IRONMAN Wales on 12th September ($TBC) remain on the list in terms of UK & Ireland events, but it will be that $100,000 figure that will grab the attention. That matches, for example, the prise purse on offer at the forthcoming IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship (St. George) and IRONMAN Asia Pacific Championship (Cairns) for example.
With the ongoing impacts of COVID sure to make the number of events on offer limited, then providing Bolton isn’t also similarly impacted, we could well see the strongest field yet at an IRONMAN UK event. Perhaps even five-time winner (unbeaten in Bolton), Lucy Gossage, can be tempted out of retirement?!
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