The final three men’s slots for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona on 10 October were decided at IRONMAN Kalmar on 15 August.
Jonas Schomburg and Matthew Marquardt finished first and second in the Swedish race but they had already punched their tickets so it was Switzerland’s Andreas Salvisberg in third, fourth-placed Gregory Barnaby (ITA) and fifth-placed Dane Daniel Bækkegård who grabbed took the remaining Big Island slots, much to the agony of Swede Robert Kallin who had earlier recorded the fastest-ever IRONMAN bike time of 3:53:12 before fading badly on the run.
RELATED CONTENT: The women’s Kona qualifiers
How qualifiying played out
The rules state champions before 2024 were granted a five-year exemption and needed only to enter and complete a qualifying race to validate their slots – think Sam Laidlow from 2023 for example, though he would have done more than enough anyway given his IRONMAN Lanzarote win in May.
But due to a subsequent rule change those who won in 2024 onwards are granted just a one-year exemption. That was fine for reigning champ Casper Stornes but 2024 winner Patrick Lange had to seal his place at what will be his Kona farewell with a runner-up spot to Laidlow in Lanzarote.
Who missed out?
In terms of those who are not there but who would likely have impacted the race, two names stand head and shoulders above the rest – Jelle Geens and Rico Bogen.
A debut on the Big Island remains a dream for brilliant Belgian Geens and it’s not for lack of trying. But a difficult long-distance debut at IRONMAN Texas and ongoing issues with a Grade 2 femoral shaft stress reaction means that has had to be put on hold for 12 months.
Taking in his last chance at Kalmar was deemed too big a risk and he is instead focussing all his energies on going for a third straight 70.3 World title.
Bogen was the last man to win the 70.3 Worlds before Geens, back in 2023, and he made everyone sit up and take notice when a superb third behind former IRONMAN World Champions Laidlow and Kristian Blummenfelt at Challenge Roth in July.
But he is content to bide his time in terms of Kona and stick to middle distance over the coming months.
The other high-profile athlete not heading to Hawaii to compete is Lionel Sanders.
He’s won three of his four 70.3s in the last couple of injury-hit seasons but at full-distance he’s been outside the top 30 in his last two visits to Kona and was 45th at Texas back in April so hasn’t been able to get close to qualifying this time around.
We also need to mention Leon Chevalier who has two top fives to his name in the IRONMAN World Championship but this season has been a struggle.
IRONMAN World Championship 2026 men’s qualifiers
| Athlete | Nationality | Qualification route* | Race qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florian Angert | GER | QS | IRONMAN South Africa |
| Leonard Arnold | GER | QS | IRONMAN Switzerland |
| Daniel Bækkegård | DEN | QS | IRONMAN Kalmar |
| Gregory Barnaby | ITA | QS | IRONMAN Kalmar |
| Antonio Benito Lopez | ESP | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Marius Bjerkeset | NOR | QS | IRONMAN Switzerland |
| Kristian Blummenfelt | NOR | FC5 | IRONMAN New Zealand |
| Jon Saeveras Breivold | NOR | QS | IRONMAN Austria |
| Mattia Ceccarelli | ROU | QS | IRONMAN Austria |
| Magnus Ditlev | DEN | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Almog Elazary | ISR | QS | IRONMAN Cozumel |
| Trevor Foley | USA | QS | IRONMAN New Zealand |
| Frederic Funk | GER | QS | IRONMAN Lake Placid |
| Jumpei Furuya | JPN | QS | IRONMAN Western Australia |
| Nathan Guerbeur | FRA | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Arnaud Guilloux | FRA | QS | IRONMAN Brazil |
| Matthew Hanson | USA | QS | IRONMAN New Zealand |
| Benjamin Hill | AUS | QS | IRONMAN Cairns |
| Wilhelm Hirsch | GER | QS | IRONMAN Brazil |
| Brock Hoel | CAN | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Arthur Horseau | FRA | QS | IRONMAN Cozumel |
| Kristian Høgenhaug | DEN | QS | IRONMAN Lake Placid |
| Gustav Iden | NOR | FC5 | IRONMAN Texas |
| Ben Kanute | USA | QS | IRONMAN Arizona |
| Youri Keulen | NED | QS | IRONMAN Brazil |
| Menno Koolhaas | NED | QS | IRONMAN Arizona |
| Sam Laidlow | FRA | FC5 | IRONMAN Lanzarote |
| Patrick Lange | GER | QS | IRONMAN Lanzarote |
| Pierre Le Corre | FRA | QS | IRONMAN New Zealand |
| Damien Le Mesnager | FRA | QS | IRONMAN Lanzarote |
| Kieran Lindars | GBR | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Sam Long | USA | QS | IRONMAN Arizona |
| Vincent Luis | FRA | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Cameron Main | GBR | QS | IRONMAN Western Australia |
| Matthew Marquardt | USA | QS | IRONMAN South Africa |
| Jordi Montraveta Moya | ESP | QS | IRONMAN Lanzarote |
| Jack Moody | NZL | QS | IRONMAN New Zealand |
| Caleb Noble | AUS | QS | IRONMAN Western Australia |
| Sebastian Norberg | SWE | QS | IRONMAN Cozumel |
| Tristan Olij | NED | QS | IRONMAN South Africa |
| Jamie Riddle | RSA | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Andreas Salvisberg | SUI | QS | IRONMAN Kalmar |
| Michele Sarzilla | ITA | QS | IRONMAN Cozumel |
| Jonas Schomburg | GER | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Jack Sosinski | AUS | QS | IRONMAN Cairns |
| Dominik Sowieja | GER | QS | IRONMAN Lake Placid |
| Kacper Stepniak | POL | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Casper Stornes | NOR | RC | IRONMAN WC Automatic Qualifier |
| Jan Stratmann | GER | QS | IRONMAN Frankfurt |
| Rasmus Svenningsson | SWE | QS | IRONMAN Chattanooga |
| Nick Thompson | AUS | QS | IRONMAN Western Australia |
| Mikel Ugarte Ramos | ESP | QS | IRONMAN South Africa |
| Marten Van Riel | BEL | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Rudy Von Berg | USA | QS | IRONMAN Texas |
| Jason West | USA | QS | IRONMAN Lake Placid |
| Cameron Wurf | AUS | QS | IRONMAN Chattanooga |
