Jan and Iden were on the same team and in different races at the Collins Cup. They both walked their races vs the competition.

Jan probably couldn't care less what they say about him, he'll just add it to the motivation pile and look to destroy them when he peaks. Calling Jan out for not going to 70.3 when Jan has clearly indicated that he chooses when to peak in a year and is game for a showdown with the Norwegians in Sacramento. Is Gustav willing to be called out for ducking Jan bc he wants to do Cozumel instead?

Not even just once?

I’d like the pros to have a certain WC race to work towards with zero ambiguity.

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

I don't know how many times I will (or want to) race the IM world championship. So for me, I want it in Kona.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

No way they hold it in April with IMSTG being the first week in May. I can see them doing a Fri-Saturday combo in May in STG. Friday being the AG race and Saturday being the WC race. Now, in that scenario I imagine they would move the NA Championship to another IM race.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

Here you have three Norwegians, Gustav, Mikael and Kristian talking to an interviewer.
They are not speaking in their native language. But have no problem talking in English.
I am not sure how many native English speaking triathletes that are doing interviews in other languages than their own.

The guys are direct. And in a world where athletes are trying to be political correct that is refreshing.

Calling out LC guys for not racing their own championship sounds reasonalbe.
Think if the ITU guys would not race the olympics or their championship.....

They are not afraid of racing everything from Super League to Ironman.
I do not see many LC guys doing the same......

I’m American and I didn’t find the podcast arrogant. They were light hearted and honest. I mean just go look at the race day thread, we knew the race was over when Blu had the mechanical. No one was going to run Gustav down. We knew it and he knew it. No big deal.

No idea why people are annoyed at them "calling people out" that withdrew. Except for Jan. He wasn't qualified. Alistair did come up injured from his bikepacking race. Javier, no idea. But this is the thing about IM racing in general, not really about this specific race. Amateurs should never plan their races around trying to "race with" their favorite pro. I've seen in my short time so many pros that I "follow" sign up for a ton of races only to never start or were actually never even planning to do that race.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yeah… April in St George was the very strong rumor on the ground this past weekend…

What’s not clear to me is whether this would be for pros or AG’ers too.

I have amateur athletes that want to race in Kona since it’s iconic rather than race at a World Championship event… so while hosting a WC is important, especially for pro athletes whose careers depend on it, it’s not going to be ideal for a lot of amateur athletes that want to experience an Ironman on the Big Island.

Messick also told me that he was getting amateurs yelling at him while they were running that the race needs to stay in Kona.. not sure if it was the person above that he was referencing. It’s clearly on the minds of many.

St George is much cheaper and accommodation is fairly abundant.

Messick and Ironman created the problem of everyone wanting to race Kona by boosting the lore of Kona in their marketing over the past 10 years… the angle has always been Kona is the holy grail…

People do that?

This is kinda where I stand as well. Though I think that people will eventually move on from the attachment to Kona. I think that if the WC rotates between 3-4 interesting locations like StG. WTC will do ok. At the end of the day, the number of AGers really shooting to get to Kona may not be that material to WTC.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Could also Rotate to largest market of Europe. Germany. Great Britain are now huge consumers of Ironman. WC not tied to USA.

Travel issues to Oz and NZ make those locales non starters.

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@rhyspencer

The likely extremely cold water temperature in April and the closeness to IMSG are two reasons I think this rumor is really strange. How cold would the water be if the race were, for example, April 23? I'd think volunteer support might be difficult with two races so close as well.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

That's very true as well.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I think you’re right… I never wanted to do 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater but I was stoked when it started relocating each year.

I might be tempted back to the IM distance if they held a WC event at a venue like StG which probably suits me better than Kona.

It could be a great strategy for Ironman… lure people into competing to qualify for two distinct Ironman events… Ironman Hawaii or Ironman WC in a different location each year.

THEY CREATED COVID-19???

The fact the race is not in kona last year or this year has nothing to do with anything you state here. They would do what ever it takes to get the race in.

Their marketing plan for kona as the holy grail the last ten years means you haven't been paying attention as it has always been the holy grail.

Not by ironman but the CONSUMER!!!!!

People fly to KONA to WATCH an IRONMAN. I can't think of another race that people do that for.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

Challenge Roth is Bavaria's largest one day sporting event. In non-covid times it's estimated at over 100,000 spectators.

I believe you're not even allowed to spectate on large portions of the Kona course. Lame.

I agree with you. Most people who qualify for Kona have no realistic aspirations of being world champion in their AG. They want to do that race on that day with all the hype and energy. At least that’s where I sit. Probably won’t ever qualify for Kona, but I certainly wouldn’t be interested in racing a WC anywhere else.

Yes but I said spectators FLY there not drive.

So think of that people FLY to kona to not even be able to watch most of the race. I guess it is the Holy grail.
It will be the holy grail and we love it is the holy grail. He know it is the race and must be the race.

70.3 worlds this weekend was good, but it was no kona lead up, kona peak fitness and kona media buzz.

Remember Penticton used to have the volunteer army. Then it became challenge and had very few Volunteers.

Ironman was the focus, athletes used to have to sign up the next day in town for the following year so would volunteer and family came to watch and volunteer. Take 2000 races out of the event and lose all the volunteers that traveled with them.

kona these people go and don't know anyone racing.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

What makes people go to Kona to watch? Ironman, media… they’ve all built it up over the last few years… driving consumer interest.

Yes, so it everything else in the world. Why buy a jaguar when a used Toyota will do. Jaguar like people and the company make it a better then other item.

Same with Kona but it isn't ironman it is the consumer.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

This is how I feel about it. I may have a chance of qualifying for Kona one day (with some luck and a weaker field) but I have ZERO chance of actually competing for the win in Kona. I think there are a lot of people in the same boat which is why for a good chunk of people Kona is more about the atmosphere, location and legacy than the actual "World Championship" part.

Bah, fly, drive... people willing to travel.

Anyone flying to Kona to watch at least knows the pros, if not a few AG's.

Challenge Penticton had "i want to see if anyone else will show up before I show up problem".
Fewer participants means fewer people willing to volunteer.

There is a whole generation of athletes who enter the sport, train and compete with the goal of *specifically* getting to Kona. If the race moves, or starts a rotation, or any of the other suggestions offered in this thread then Ironman is in danger of losing those athletes. The rest of their races are a funnel to get those folks to Kona. It seriously waters down the brand if the race becomes a traveling road show. True, a whole new group of athletes may come into the sport as a result, but my guess is that it would be a net negative.

Brand identifiers matter. It's tough to quantify, and easy to assume that the buzz/allure/fandom will simply follow the race if they choose to go somewhere else.

Near term - WTC should absolutely have a WC somewhere than can hold it in these Covid times. Long term - they have to find a way to get back to Kona if they want to keep a large portion of their customer base engaged.