Kristian Blummenfelt has revealed a Kona side quest – beating compatriot Casper Stornes by just under seven minutes in the IRONMAN World Championship if he is to finish ahead of him in the IRONMAN Pro Series to likely net a bonus $200,000 first prize for the second year in a row.

Blummenfelt moved to the top of the standings after finishing second to Hayden Wilde at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice.

But his position is deceptive because he has already completed five eligible races – one more than Stornes – and only an athlete’s five best scores count towards their final total.

That leaves the Norwegian facing a very specific target when the pair meet at the IRONMAN World Championship on the Big Island.

The Kona calculation

Reflecting on Nice in a video published on his YouTube channel which is embedded below, Blummenfelt said: “Another World Championship podium puts me in an okay position for the Pro Series.

“I think I am leading the Pro Series points-wise, but I’ve also done one extra race compared to Casper.

“I think it is around a 6.8-minute gap I need to have on Casper on the Big Island if I want to win the Pro Series, or at least come in front of him.

“I think he is probably the guy who is looking the best on the points table so far with the races he has done.”

The current standings support Blummenfelt’s calculation.

He leads the Series with 17,124 points from five races, while Stornes is fifth with 15,032 from four.

That gives Blummenfelt an apparent advantage of 2,092 points, but his score in Kona will become his sixth result and therefore replace one of his existing 2,500-point totals.

Stornes, by contrast, can add his fifth score in its entirety.

That effectively leaves Blummenfelt needing to score 409 points more than his compatriot in Hawaii.

Kona offers 6,000 IRONMAN Pro Series points to the winner, with every subsequent athlete losing one point for each second they finish behind them. Blummenfelt therefore needs to gain at least 409 points – which is six minutes and 49 seconds – on Stornes.

Matt Hanson and Trevor Foley currently occupy second and third in the standings and also remain firmly in the championship equation.

But Blummenfelt views Stornes – the reigning IRONMAN World Champion and winner in Frankfurt this season – as the athlete in the strongest position once the number of counting races is taken into account.

‘Everything can happen’

Stornes produced the performance of his career to win the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, with Blummenfelt finishing third on that occasion.

He was also third behind Blummenfelt at IRONMAN Texas earlier this season before claiming victory at the European Championship in Frankfurt.

Blummenfelt knows a gap approaching seven minutes between two closely matched athletes is significant, but believes Kona provides more scope for dramatic swings than almost any other race.

He explained: “It is still possible because everything can happen on the Big Island.

“I’ve learned it in the past. If the run legs do not show up in T2, you could be an hour behind. If they do, you can do a lot of damage.”

Blummenfelt demonstrated the potential strength of those run legs once again at the 70.3 World Championship.

He began the half marathon in 16th place and more than two-and-a-half minutes behind Wilde, but produced a course-record 1:05:12 split to surge through the field.

The Norwegian closed to within 18 seconds of Wilde at the finish, recording a second successive runner-up finish at the 70.3 World Championship after also placing behind Jelle Geens in 2025.

Heat training ramps up

With less than four weeks separating the two World Championships, Blummenfelt has wasted no time beginning his final Kona preparations.

His immediate focus has been heat acclimation ahead of the notoriously hot and humid conditions in Hawaii.

“Now it is less than four weeks until the big dance on the Big Island, and as you see, heat training is really on,” he said.

“We are pushing it well over an hour in heat zone three, so hopefully I’m like a local when I get to Kona, Hawaii.”

Blummenfelt plans to have almost three weeks in Hawaii and signed off the video by saying: “Of course, I want to do one better on the Big Island compared to how I did in Nice.

“Again, we are training and racing for world titles, not just fast run splits.”