Kona is the wrong race to do this kind of assessment on because it's not open registration. It's a reflection of the slot allocation worldwide, and as the slots have gone from 150 to 100 to 70 to 50 to 40 per race, the distribution per AG has changed. And that is largely what you see in this analysis, rather than an assessment of the changing demographics of the sport.

Hmmm, I would argue the opposite because slots are based on starters in each race so this pretty much becomes a mass demographic of all races combined since it is rare for slots to roll off from one AG to another, except for the oldest AGs.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Except it's not. In the old days when there we're 150 slots at a race (yes, those days existed) then 124 slots were proportional and 26 were not. So, yes, Kona was largely representative of overall participation numbers. But now with 40 slots at a race, 14 are proportional and 26 are not. So it is no longer very representative of overall participation.

The one graph I would be a bit (maybe actually more than a bit) concerned about if I was IRONMAN would the graph with this quote "It’s clearer when we look at the percentages. Back in 2004 roughly 30% of the male field were over 45, by 2018 that has increased to 50%"

If I'm looking 10 years down the road . . I'm going to be wondering where all the triathletes have gone . . if that trend continues!

Away from IM at the many Races that I'm working at as a Race Announcer - that trend is confirmed - few entrants less than 30, with well over 1/2 the race field over 40!! Again - where will we be in 10 years?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I see, makes sense. Forgot about the arbitrary piece of it and that is is much more pronounced with less slots/race

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

But it's pretty clear in other races that 45-49 has become the biggest age group
And this is reflect in the studs as the biggest age group has a better chance to get more entries.
So while the other poster has a good point it doesn't change what's happening in 25 to roughly 55 on the male side

Also given that people are getting older and stay longer healthy it is kind of expected that the age goes up.
That is not just because the sport doesn't attract younger people (that's certainly a problem but needs to be differentiated)

Overall some great studs thanks for posting