Round and round we go. I guess we can now bury the assumption that Age Group qualification would eventually follow the KPR model.

Well, gender equality is at least possible with this approach.

What about this new system does not provide gender equality? Both genders have the same number of slots guaranteed and access to the floating slots based on participation.

This seems like a well thought out system to ensure that the top races make it to Kona in top form.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

So we should allow for true gender equality where the fastest triathletes qualify regardless if they are male or female?

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

I'm guessing that didn't go as planned.

So the way I understand this is maybe a race has 14 slots and 1st-3rd of each gender will qualify and they will allocate the last 8 proportional to the field. So if the there are the same number of male & female pros then each side will get 7 slots.

Fwiw, this is doesn't go into effect until the start of the next season which is Sept 1, 2019.

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Nuh, uh!

Qualifying for the 2019 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i will begin on September 9, 2018 with slots being awarded at IRONMAN Wisconsin and IRONMAN Wales.

Qualifying for the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France will begin on July 8, 2018 with slots being awarded at IRONMAN 70.3 Jönköping and IRONMAN 70.3 Ecuador.

The KPR and 70.3PR Pro qualifying systems remain in effect with respect to qualifying for the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship and 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.

Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/...n.aspx#ixzz51q26ZUlx

I think you maybe mis-interpreted what Misery was saying.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Interesting that the 70.3 champ (Gomez) can validate and compete in Kona, and vice versa for Lange in the 70.3 race. Of course it is not for 2018 yet, so the champs might change, but that would have been really convenient for Gomez.

IMHO this takes away the guys chasing points by racing a lot, they would have to actually win or get very close in a harder race. With these rules Wurf would be there next year (he won Wales) but not necessarily this year because in the other races it depends on the race and the number of participants.

Also the entire podium of a previous year can simply validate for the next year, not just the winner. They probably don't really need it but if they are not a previous champ it does make it slightly easier to validate.

Agree, with so many IM races and 37 guaranteed spots, basically you need to win or be a top 3 in championship races to qualify. If you are one of those who are always in the top 4 or 5, it can be hard!!

Interesting that the 70.3 champ (Gomez) can validate and compete in Kona, and vice versa for Lange in the 70.3 race. Of course it is not for 2018 yet, so the champs might change, but that would have been really convenient for Gomez. //

It looks to me that Gomez can do Ironman next year as long as he validates, but it is confusing. So in reality it looks like 60 men will get to race along with 40 or so women. A tiny bit better for the women but not total equality in numbers. It is based on how many pros actually race, and of course more men race than women so they will end up with more slots. Could be just a few or a lot, have to see how many pitch up to all those out of the way races..

Based on existing stats, you are right, but this new system also allows potentially for more women than men in Kona in the future. One of the arguments put forward by some of those who supported 50 women @ Kona was that the system discourages women from entering the sport and chasing a Kona slot. This removes the "obstacle"

Sounds like they basically recycled the old rules; Mirinda Carfrae came second in Kona in 2010 never having raced a full IM before on the back of a 70.3 WC. She had never even run a marathon.

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

Help me out in understanding the new system:
So all races have atleast 1 Auto quialify slot for both gender. And does each race then have e.g. 2 floating slots on top of that, or does it depend on number of people starting? I would guess the first because you could otherwise end up using alot of slot in the beginning of the year and have none for later races.

This really increases the "randomness" and strategy of going to Kona. A mechanical could set you off. But there might also be an idea in waiting a bit as i would assume alot would race early to get the slot! So in reality those that do not get a slot early in the season will have to do just as many races in hoping to get a e.g. top 2 slot! Getting podium in Kona just got so much more important!

The people validating their Slots in 2019, if they win a race i guess the slot rolls down to the next?

I read it as there being specific bigger races (not all of them) where there would be floating spots available. These floating spots would always get allocated (assuming enough pros showed up to claim them, which seems a given as pros will target the bigger races), but the proportion of male:female spots would depend on the proportion of male:female racers (not clear if it's starters or finishers).

I.e. an IM has 4 floating spots. 30 pro men race, 10 pro women race, the men get 3 of those spots, the women get 1. Equal number of men and women show up, they get 2 spots each.

Predicting pro drop out rates during run leg will skyrocket in IM races... if you don't have a good shot at top 1-3 (pending on the specific race), why bother...

Still liking the changes, though.

Wasn't that the case under the points system anyway? If you're down the field then you're not getting (m)any points, so not much point finishing unless you're just validating. But fortunately most pros generally seem to run it in anyway, whether through professionalism, personal pride or to keep sponsors or fans happy.

You may be right, but I think there is a difference earning "not (m)any" and nothing at all.

If the winner already has a slot does it roll down to the next athlete?

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

The releases I saw on this note that the pro slots would roll down just like AG slots...

I mean, there's still money on the line... Don't think this will happen.

My original response seems to have been read the opposite way from what I meant by a few people. I view the new approach as a positive improvement with respect of the possibility of it resulting in more female pros at Kona, but the proof will be in the pudding I guess. I think the floating slots are likely to skew towards male pros if they are allocated on depth of field (literally number of pros turning up).

This also helps the professional woman who decides to start a family. She is not starting with zero KPR points, and having to race multiple IMs to get back to Kona. Rachel Joyce could have qualified after winning Boulder. I believe she had to follow that up with IM Canada and IMMT to accumulate the points for Kona.