The best news to come from IM, possibly ever…

It was a historic week in our sport. Ironman CEO Scott De Rue announced that we will be returning to a single day Ironman World Championship in Hawaii as of next year and for Nice to hold 70.3 worlds.

It’s easily one of the hottest debates in our sport in recent years and nothing like it to get people fired up. The conspiracy theories of why the 4 decade long standing tradition of having a one day world championship split reaches from economic incentive to equality and whether either was achieved in a meaningful way will be the cause of further discussion I suspect.

To understand the magic of Kona, it helps to understand its origins. When in 1978 Naval officer John Collins and his wife Judy proposed combining Hawaii's three toughest endurance races into a single day, they weren't just creating a new event – they were birthing a philosophy. "Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles. Brag for the rest of your life.” I maintain- the hardest thing about an Ironman is keeping it to yourself…

Each Kona champion and every finisher becomes a part of it’s living history- a history no other sport has to offer. Some of my biggest high’s and lows have come from that island. A rookie in 2014, back to back great years in ´15 and ´16, a humbling walk of the marathon in ´17 and easily my fondest race of my career in ´19, after being sidelined the year before with injury, not knowing it would be my last time to ever race there. Supporting the race in ´22, being injured yet again and reading the news that Kona would be split upon landing back in Europe was the toughest pill to swallow. Instinctively I knew my body could not sustain the work load another season. Fighting the biological clock and the next generation of hungry athletes was wearing me thin.

In my opinion, Ironman has two “golden egg’s”. Hawaii and the fact that there is little to no boundary between amateurs and professionals. We’ve always raced on the same day in the same conditions with equal opportunity. It’s where our sport has always been ahead of the curve- same distance, course, prize money… Tennis, cycling or even swimming are still not there. Is it perfect? No, there are race scenarios where the men’s field interferes with the women’s. But it is fair to say, that no world title was ever affected. As a fan I think the 8h of racing has space for 2 championships- I would argue it needs it. If IM figures out how to show both races equally well, they will benefit from each others attention.

When I first visited Kona in 2011 the thing that got me is that Kona seemed like an Olympic village for amateurs and pros alike. Lava Java was the spot and if you could get a table, it was arguably the best people watching on the planet. Everyone in prime shape, the latest and greatest equipment, buffed and polished for one of the worlds most iconic sports events. Athletes, supporters, families, the support industry- old friends and new, all gathered to make Kona a little piece of endurance paradise for a week of the year. I’m glad we don’t have to decide which race to go see anymore- bringing us all together again was the right thing to do. I’m off to book my flights!

Race of the week

Ironman Texas was Cam Wurfs audition for the next Fast and Furious movie with a 3:53h bike split while KB decided to make sub 7:30h the new benchmark with a 7:24 finish. Norwegian method all you like but the fact that 7:40h got you 10th place seems mind bending.

For me it was most exiting watching the rivalry between Kat Matthews and Taylor Knibb unfold, the latter seeming unbeatable after last season. Well she was and Kat absolutely smashed the race in 8:10h beating Taylor by a good 10min. It’s a great time to be a fan of the sport and, see above, get your tickets for Hawaii while you can.

App I´m playing with…

Fantasy Gravel

Gravel is in and Girona is the place to be this week. The Traka is back in town and it’s nothing like it was a few years ago- an event for a few locals crazy enough to take on organizer Gerard’s brutal course. It’s become one of the biggest races on the calendar with distances ranging from 50 to over 500 km’s. Town is buzzing and it’s worth putting on your list of endurance adventures. Even Alistair Brownlee is having a crack apparently. My friends from Athletic Affair have built a a fantasy app to follow and play along. We’re thinking of doing the same for triathlon- any takers?

See you next week…

Our time in South Africa has come to an end. We have our Ryzon board meeting this weekend and on Sunday I´m off to Shanghai. Rumor has it endurance sport is exploding over there and I´m going to check it out- I´ll keep you posted. Have a great weekend,

Jan.

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