The Ironman World Championship is a

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

held annually in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 1978 to 2022, with no race in 2020 and an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the

World Triathlon Corporation The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a sports event promotion company owned by conglomerate Advance Publications, that produces the Ironman Triathlon, Ironman 70.3, the 5150 series of triathlon races, and other sports events. History In D ...

. It is the annual culmination of a series of

Ironman triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

qualification races held throughout the world. From 2023, the Men's and Women's Ironman World Championships were separated with one at Kona and the other hosted at another venue.

History

From 1978 through 1980 the race was held on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, the course combining that of three events already held there: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi./3.86 km), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi./185.07 km, originally a two-day event), and the

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was first held on December 16, 1973, and it typically takes places on the second Sunday in December. The ma ...

. The bike stage was reduced by 3 miles to link it to the start of the marathon course. In 1981 the race was moved to the less urbanized Big Island, keeping the distances the same: a open water swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, a

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

ride across the Hawaiian lava desert to Hāwī and back, and a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

(26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run along the coast of the Big Island from

Keauhou Keauhou is an unincorporated community on the island of Hawaii in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. Its elevation is 13 feet (4 m). Because the community has borne multiple names, the Board on Geographic Names officially designate ...

Keahole Point Keāhole Point is the westernmost point of the island of Hawaii. The Kona International Airport was moved here from directly north of the town of Kailua-Kona in 1970, when the previous smaller airstrip was converted into the Old Kona Airport Sta ...

and back to

Kailua-Kona Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is most commonly referred to simply as Kona (a name it shares with the district to which it belongs), but also as Kona To ...

, finishing on Alii Drive. Since 1982, the race has been held in the fall each year, before which it was held in the spring, giving two races in 1982. Athletes with disabilities compete in the event in the physically challenged category, which was instituted in 1997, and are required to meet the same cutoff times as able bodied competitors. Australian John Maclean was the first physically challenged athlete to complete the event under the cut-off time. Because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the 2020 Ironman World Championship was initially postponed to February 2021 and then canceled with that year's qualifiers able to defer to race in 2021 or 2022. The 2021 Championship was postponed to May 2022 and held in

St. George, Utah St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...

due to travel restrictions. The 2022 Ironman World Championship was split with a men's and women's race and the Women's Championship on October 6 followed by the Men's Championship two days later. Also from 2022,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

maker

VinFast VinFast Auto Ltd. is a Vietnamese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company founded by Vingroup, one of the largest private conglomerates in Vietnam that was founded by Pham Nhat Vuong. Established in 20 ...

was the first ever naming rights partner for

2022 Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship is a triathlon held annually in Hawaii, United States from 1978 to 2022, with no race in 2020 and an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmina ...

and 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Since 2023 the men's and women's Ironman World Championships have been split and alternated between Nice, France, and Kona, Hawaii. In 2023, the men's event held on September 10 in Nice, France, and the women's on October 14 in Kona, Hawaii. The men's and women's Championships alternate between these venues until 2026. Qualifying for the World Championship is achieved through placement in one of the other Ironman races or some

Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting ...

races. The current Ironman Hawaii course record was set in 2024 by

Patrick Lange Patrick Lange (; 25 August 1986) is a professional duathlete and triathlete from Germany. He is a three time Ironman World Champion, setting course records in 2017, 2018 and 2024. Lange is also the 2010–2013 German champion in duathlon and ...

(Germany), whose winning time was 7 hrs 35 min 53 sec. The women's course record is 8 hrs 24 mins 31 sec, set in 2023 by

Lucy Charles-Barclay Lucy Charles-Barclay (born 15 September 1993) is an English professional triathlete specialising in the Ironman and 70.3 ("half-Ironman") distances. She is the 2023 World Ironman champion and the 2021 World Champion in the 70.3 discipline, both ...

(UK).

Course records

Men

Women

Medalists

Men

; Winners by country *20: *11: *7: *3: *2: *1: ^‡The 2021 World Championship was held in

on May 7, 2022. The delay and change from the original

Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is most commonly referred to simply as Kona (a name it shares with the district to which it belongs), but also as Kona To ...

venue were due to the

Women

; Winners by country *11: *9: *7: *6: *5: *4: *2: *2: ^†Paula Newby Fraser was a citizen and represented the United States for the 1996 race. ^‡The 2021 World Championship was held in

on May 7, 2022. The delay and change from the original

venue were due to the

Ironman lottery

Until 2015, individuals could enter a lottery for the chance to participate in the Ironman World Championship. The lottery entry fee was $50 and afforded the chance to win one of 100 berths in the championship race. If selected the winners then had to pay the normal entry fee. However, according to a sworn complaint filed with the

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Ironman illegally charged athletes for a chance to win the opportunity to compete in the Ironman World Championship. According to Florida law, the state where the World Triathlon Corporation resides, it is illegal to set up and charge for a

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

. Because WTC charged a $50 fee to enter the lottery, instead of giving away the opportunity to win a slot at the championships, they were in violation of this law. Following the complaint WTC cooperated with the United States Attorneys office and the FBI's investigation of the matter and agreed to forfeit $2,761,910, the amount collected from the lottery since October 24, 2012. The attorney representing the United States in the matter was 8-time Ironman finisher James A. Muench. Winners of the 2015 lottery were notified on March 17, 2015, prior to the announcement of the complaint. WTC stated that these winners would be unaffected by this decision and that their slots for the upcoming championship race would be honored.

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

Ironman.com

{{Authority control Triathlon world championships Ironman Triathlon Tourist attractions in Hawaii County, Hawaii Recurring sporting events established in 1978 Sports competitions in Hawaii Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Annual sporting events 1978 establishments in Hawaii Annual sporting events in the United States Multisports in the United States Hawaii culture