Dhe men’s race for the Ironman World Championship will not take place in 2023 Hawaii occur. The organizer announced this on Thursday night and justified the decision with the experiences from the World Cup this year. The racing series breaks with another tradition, after the men’s and women’s races started separately on two days for the first time this year.
The reason for this was the high number of participants after there had been no World Cup in Hawaii in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic. The 2021 World Cup was rescheduled in St. George in the USA in May this year. In 2023 it will be at the birthplace of the Ironman therefore only give the women’s race on October 14th. It is still unclear where the men’s World Championships will be decided over the 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.6 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running.
Ironman initially only confirmed that it will not be in Hawaii. One location is still being evaluated, and a decision should be announced in January next year. “Hawaii is in the DNA of our sport and we’re excited to have the first exclusive Women’s World Championships race week in Kona,” said Ironman President and CEO Andrew Messick.
Whether the athletes share the joy remains to be seen. The Ironman legend lives nowhere like on Hawaii, where this year the high number of participants – there were practically twice as many athletes due to the split into two races – again for significantly higher costs due to the limited availability of accommodation, among other things had taken care of.
“We have learned that more than one day of racing during Ironman week is too much for the community,” said Hawaii Mayor Mitch Roth. In 2024 the men will start in Hawaii and the women somewhere else. According to tri-mag.de, Nice should be discussed as an alternative.
