04/12/2022
It's been known for a couple of days now, that the Ironman World Championships for men and women will be split in the future. For the athletes, this means that they will no longer compete in iconic Kona on an annual basis and instead alternate with the new world championship venue in Nice starting as early as next year. I took me a while to reflect and its in my eyes a bittersweet decision with a longer post.
Bitter, because the fascination with Ironman is directly linked to Hawaii. It's here, where it all started, where stars were born and legends and dramas were written! All of which contributed to the fact that our sport has established itself as part of the mainstream today. Bitter, because the Ironman Hawaii has become a victim of its own success and is now too big for the island's local infrastructure or just can't enable weaker athletes to fulfill their dream once in a lifetime to compete in Kona. Bitter also for all the men who trained and raced hard in 2022 to qualify for Kona 2023!
In bitter moments its hard to find sweet aspects, but I found some and here they are:
Sweet, because the World Championships now take place at two locations, on two continents and on two different days. Nice offers something different in almost every aspect (course, climate, travel) which is good news to all of those, who regularly struggled with the conditions in Hawaii. Also this presents our sport with an opportunity for further growth. Both, in terms of the increasing number of participating athletes, and in terms of the expected media impact, which in turn will help boost the commercial value for the two events, the Ironman brand and finally also the pro athletes.
If it’s going to be a winning situation for Nice – we’ll see… For sure the race has to offer something spectacular and outstanding, so that the participants say: it was not Kona, but it was worth it. So it can’t just be “another” Ironman. Nice has a long tradition and a chance, but I think it will take a lot to balance the island's hospitality and the welcome of the Hawaiians.
Finally and still thinking with an athlete's mind:
It hurt when there was no more mass start and it hurts now that men and women won't race together anymore. But as I have learned on more than one occasion over the course of my life: the faster you accept things you can’t change the more energy you have for your next goal.
Champions will find the positive and turn it into something good, no matter what the situation.
IRONMAN
