i know a guy who did not take his kona slot in israel, and now will do an ironman to qualify for NICE .

europe

Qualified in Coz 2 weeks ago
Will be deferring to Kona 2024

If I had not KQed in Coz I would not try for a spot for Nice (or wherever it is) in 2023. I would wait until 2024 to try for Kona.

I think it would also be interesting to see where everyone is from also

Live in the states.

If I manage to get my shit together in LP, I would take a 2023 <insert location to be named later> slot.

Big if considering my track record of either getting severely injured while in the shape of my life or coming in way underbaked, but...here we are.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Qualified at Wisconsin this year. First kq and to be honest the allure of Kona had me complete 7 im’s before I kq’d. I will wait till 2024.

Kona

An athlete qualified at IMC, now he’s in limbo. Not outraged or anything just waiting until January.

Amusingly I’ve been twice racing and my wife 4 times, I’ve also been to Kona 4-7 times with athletes or wife….I personally am jazzed about Nice, my wife was not qualified yet but a bit bummed “why couldn’t the guys go to Kona this year?” Lol.

I get people’s disappointment if they haven’t been there yet but for me personally it’s a lot of been there fond that…unless it’s a small 10km or sprint I’m not racing “driving distance” next year. (IE CDA, IMC, Calgary, Victoria etc) All of our races are going to be somewhere Interesting.

Maurice

Qualified for the first time ever in Florida. I’m pretty sure I’m going to defer. I think that writing is on the wall that Kona is going to be slowly phased out of the WC so knowing I have an opportunity to race there for a WC is too hard to pass up. Especially since I got the last spot in my AG and 5th place was only 24s behind me. Not like I can just go and get a slot whenever I feel like it.

That being said I don’t race well in the heat and my strength is the bike. Nice is intriguing. If I had already raced Kona I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t care anymore and would be excited for it to be moved off the island.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

A very close friend of mine who I race and train with came top 3 overall age grouper in his last 3 Ironman races in Europe over the last 3 years. He never took a Kona slot, not interested. He was thrilled when Nice was announced and will do everything he can to qualify (he surely will)

Personnaly, I raced IM WC St George last year and loved it (was able to qualify on roll downs).
I don't care about going to Kona (not interested in racing an IM in a sauna and I couldn't qualify anyway). Don't care about going to Nice WC either, it's a home race and I raced the 70.3 WC in 2019 there, feels like been there/done that.
But super motivated and happy to be qualified for 70.3 WC Lahti. What I like about world champs is going to race in places I wouldn't go to otherwise, with a competitive field and all the buzz around the race.

Caveat: both of us live and train in the South of France <2H drive to Nice

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It doesn't get easier, you just get slower
https://mymsracesironman.home.blog/

I live in France, have done Nice x3, Kona x3. I’m qualified for 2023. I have no interest in Nice, I mean, I can race there when I want. It is a weekend trip. I love the Nice race, don’t get me wrong. But Kona… Kona. A race and an exotic vacation on the other side of the world.
So I will defer to 2024.

Two guys I know (US, west coast) that qualified decided no to Nice. The budgeted for a Kona trip with the family and the change in venue pushed to cost too high for them. One decided he’d just go after his pro card instead of waiting until 2024 Kona. Not sure about the other, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did the same

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Matt

I qualified in 21 in Bolton UK so this is the second deferral, again. I will defer to 2024 as I haven’t been to Hawaii. I can’t obviously compare, but I did race 70.3 worlds in Nice in 2019 and while the logistics post race is a bit chaotic (it’s a fairly large city), the race itself was very slick, the bike course incredible, so I’d go back in a heartbeat (I will definitely try to qualify for 2023). It is an amazing race. Just it’s not Kona.

Has it been confirmed to be Nice? Sorry don’t have my phone up my nose watching play by play nuances so could have missed the announcement….

BTW - although I have not KQed yet. They’re a second tier of customer who are also screwed out of $$. I did also put out lots of money organizing my 2023 race calendar with emphasis on racing 70.3 worlds Aug (I have a number Fin who are friend so lower cost) and KQ to race IN KONA at dates advertised.

I have no interest in just racing and IM with goal of participation but rather KQ. Sure there are others that have put a plan in place as I have. Perhaps I will just forfeit IMTX registration fees and put the additional cost of doing Tx (probably the least expensive race to do BTW) to late fall 2024 KQ race and focus on racing 70.3 next year.

For what it's worth -- if you Flex 90'd your entry (I *think* they had that program for TX registrations? Maybe?) you're able to defer it for a year. Bryan and I had talked about that in another forum.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Thank you for pointing that out to me, I was unaware of the program and was able to take advantage of it to roll my 2023 IMTX registration to 2024.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I missed the Flex90. But this is my point, I registered for IMTX as a 2023 KQ as advertised. This was 100% my goal and perhaps an offensive back door brag to some. …. I usually do KQ and that is the only reason I race IM distance. 70.3 races for me are destination races if possible 8 weeks out from key IM. The time and $$ required to show up to race rather than participate are worlds apart as you know. I rather take a beating than race an IM on half baked fitness.

I'm the same way. I only do an IM to KQ. I'm 3 for 3 although my last IM was Kona 2012. I decided to go back to Kona in 2023 and signed up for Texas, good time of year for me, lot's of slots in case the day goes a bit sideways. When this broke and before I knew I was eligible for a free transfer to 2024, I briefly considered a potential Nice race. But I would have to go alone without my family and it seemed a huge hassle. If I had not been able to transfer my registration, I still would have raced Texas since it's the NA Championship and that's kind of cool.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Same for me…. I will have to go alone or perhaps we can find other males to room with as there will be no females apparently.

However this requires $1600 to place that bet. Kona was about destination of seeing friends from all over the world and being a part of something larger than yourself. Admittedly I did meet athletes that were there from other parts of the world alone. This is a solitary sport and being made even more so if there is no one to share the journey with when ultimate achievements (KQ) can be realized. Nice was my first IM and far more $$ than Kona for me - but I am in San Diego so life only gets worse for me but there is a weather tax here too which does pay dividends when training for an Aug race like IMTX which I have done 3x.

Kona coincides with my sons winter break so it can be a family affair in October. I'm in Scottsdale so early season IM's are great for me as I can train all winter. My last qualifier was the infamous IMSG 2012 in May.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I actually would like my money back as I'm not interested in a 2023 alternative venue nor waiting for 2024 for another Kona that may or may not happen.

I've been pushing IM via email with no luck, so will try through Visa first, then small claims court if necessary (someone mentioned on the big thread that this had worked for them in the past).

I'm curious how many other men would also simply like a refund?

Pretty much my thoughts to a T! If I hadn't already qualified I would love to do Nice as I grew up learning French and French culture, and Nice is absolutely a dream vacation.

But the more I think about it, I would be dumb to turn up a Kona spot. I will be one and done at Kona- it doesn't remotely suit me for the reasons you said (add in being a super slow swimmer in my case too), and it's expensive as hell. Even if Kona stays as a WC, it'll be SO hard to qualify in future years being only every other, while the "other" WC will have much deeper rolldowns in the US.

I also got the idea of checking another big item off the bucket list and doing the NYC marathon this fall, which I had been thinking for 2024 after Kona. I grew up close to NYC in NJ and have already gotten excited about trying to break 2:45 there in front of the family and friends I have nearby.

I know of 2 guys that qualified in Cairn that said they will go to NICE as they also expect to qualify for Kona the following year.

As Tony said. A World Championships is still a world championships, no matter where it is.

They move the NFL Championship game each year.

I qualified in Chattanooga. I will defer to Kona 2024. Kona has always been my reason to do Ironman races, and I'll probably lose interest after this one last time. The history of the race is what lures me (for better or worse).

I qualified in Florida a few weeks ago, turned down my slot as I thought it was for Kona and I'm not 100% sure I want to go and thought I would leave the decision to a 2023 Ironman. If I'd have known the slot was for Nice I would have definitely taken it. I'm from the UK so undoubtedly biased as Nice is only a 2hr flight for me and much more appealing than Kona

I haven't qualified yet, but was aiming to so so in South Africa on March the 5th. A new AG for me in 2023, a regional championship with 100 slots and the time to train meant a serious effort to get a slot. A month before SA I'm going to Lanzarote to get some hours in so I was (am) dedicated. The news that there will be no Kona for men in 2023 was rather disappointing and I haven't figured out yet what to do if I qualify for Nice (or whatever it is going to be). I've raced Nice in 2013 already and although it's a beautiful (bike) course I did not have the intention of going back soon. I guess it depends on how South Africa goes and how many slots are available in Nice for Kona 2024. I'd rather do a serious KQ attempt around the Nice date in another Ironman than racing Nice for the sake of it being a WC.