Salomon will become the title partner of the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona from 2027 after agreeing a major five-year global deal with The IRONMAN Group.
The agreement will put the name of a brand traditionally associated with skiing, mountain sport and trail running on triathlon’s biggest annual event through to 2031.
It represents another significant step into road running and long-distance triathlon for Salomon, which recently signed reigning IRONMAN world champion Casper Stornes alongside leading French professionals Marjolaine Pierré and Julie Iemmolo.
Beginning next season, Salomon will become an IRONMAN Global Premier Partner with exclusive rights across performance footwear, apparel and technical bags.
It will also hold title or presenting rights at selected IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events in the United States and Europe.
Salomon puts its name on Kona
The agreement’s centrepiece is the naming-rights deal for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
First held in 1978, the race has grown from a challenge between a small group of athletes into the most famous event in long-distance triathlon.
Victory on Hawaii’s Big Island remains one of endurance sport’s defining achievements, with Kona rivalled only by the Olympic Games as triathlon’s biggest global stage.
Salomon will become title partner when the world’s leading professional and age-group athletes return in 2027 and retain that status for the duration of the five-year agreement.
“To become Title Partner of the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii is both an honour and a responsibility,” Salomon president Guillaume Meyzenq said.
“We are entering this partnership with humility, ambition and a long-term commitment.
“We want to contribute to its future while respecting everything that has made Kona iconic and create lasting value for the athletes and communities who make endurance sport what it is.”
Kona’s first naming-rights partner was Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast, which took on the role in 2022.
From trail running to triathlon
Salomon was founded in the French Alps and built its reputation in skiing and other mountain sports before becoming one of the most recognisable brands in trail and ultrarunning.
That heritage also overlaps with another significant part of The IRONMAN Group’s endurance portfolio.
The company holds a minority stake in UTMB Group and partnered with it to launch the UTMB World Series, which culminates with trail running’s most prestigious event in Chamonix.
The new Salomon agreement applies to IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events rather than the UTMB World Series, but it brings together a brand synonymous with trail running and a company with major interests in both sports.
Salomon’s expansion into triathlon may nevertheless appear surprising, but it comes as the company increases its presence in road running and develops footwear intended for racing on asphalt.
That move became particularly apparent in March 2026 when Salomon announced the signing of Stornes, Pierré and Iemmolo as its first elite long-distance triathletes.
Stornes won the 2025 men’s IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, producing a championship-best 2:29:25 marathon as he led compatriots Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt in a clean sweep of the podium.
Stornes and his fellow Salomon triathletes are racing the run discipline in the company’s S/LAB Phantasm 3, a carbon-plated road shoe developed with aerodynamics specialists Swiss Side.
Their feedback will now help inform Salomon’s development of footwear and apparel designed around the particular demands of running after the swim and bike disciplines in middle- and long-distance triathlon.
“Athletes no longer define themselves by one sport,” Meyzenq added.
“They run on the road, compete in the mountains, take on triathlons and continually seek new ways to challenge themselves.
“Endurance has become a lifestyle. For Salomon, joining forces with IRONMAN is a natural step and an opportunity to bring our performance expertise to one of the world’s most committed endurance communities.”
What will change at IRONMAN races?
The agreement extends well beyond the IRONMAN World Championship.
Salomon will become a title or presenting partner at selected IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races, including Oceanside, Texas, Chattanooga, Lanzarote, Lake Placid, Oregon and Jones Beach.
At IRONMAN-owned events included in the partnership, the final discipline will be designated the “Salomon Run Course”.
Athletes will also be given opportunities to test Salomon footwear and other products at selected races and associated community events.
The company says its work with IRONMAN will extend into biomechanics, training, nutrition and recovery through a performance programme led by sports scientist Aitor Viribay.
“IRONMAN and Salomon are united in the belief that endurance sports unlock human potential,” The IRONMAN Group chief executive Scott DeRue said.
“Salomon’s heritage, performance expertise, product innovation and community-driven philosophy make the brand a natural partner for IRONMAN.
“We look forward to working together to enhance the athlete experience across our community.”
Salomon’s Kona presence starts in 2026
Although its global partnership officially begins in 2027, Salomon will have a presence at the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
The brand will stage a pop-up at Kona Heaven on October 7 and 8, where athletes and spectators will be able to meet product experts and learn more about its approach to performance.
Ultrarunning superstar Courtney Dauwalter and Olympic cross-country skiing champion Jessie Diggins will also be involved in the activation.
The crossover is indicative of Salomon’s wider strategy: taking the endurance credentials it has established in the mountains and using them to challenge more familiar road-running brands within triathlon.
From 2027, it will do so with its name attached to the sport’s most famous race.
