I've done both (in the same year although already had my Kona spot when doing Nice).

Nice was a fantastic event, and I really enjoyed in there. It wasn't Kona though. Kona is unique with the weather conditions and history. Personally, I don't care that is the World Championships, I care that I am competing at Kona. Personally, I was inspired to do the event after seeing a documentary with Dick Hoye, a wheelchair athlete and an army veteran. I didn't even realize it was a world championship event till much later on.

Both my partner, who competed with me on the same day at my last Kona event, and I are bitterly disappointed that we will no longer to have the opportunity to race on the same day, let alone the same continent. Friends and family won't be making two trips either.

Time for another sport.

Hi Thom, where did they put the Legacy program on hold?

Or you could see as you now get to go to two different places (budget permitted) and the partner can better support the other during race week. Could be challenging for the partner who races first as they'll be in full prep, but Nice is a great spot to finalise your race prep for Kona.

We can all agrees that no WC race will ever attract every single top AGer. That is a fact.

That being said I would think it’s hard to argue that if you are truly chasing the best competition at the IM distance then Kona is your race. For the better part of the last 15 years Kona has the most competitive fields.

Once you move it, it will be a regionally competitive. Look at the 70.3 WC, is a regional race for the most part. WC Nice will attract top Euros and a handful of non-euro athletes. It will be hard and competitive but will not have a Kona field.

We will have to wait until 2024 to really settle this when we see the 2024 men’s AG field loaded compared to Nice 2023

Maybe it’s all just rumors. Who knows.

This may leave an opening for PTO to put on their own "WC IM Race" with BIG money as a draw card around the same time of year. Especially if pro athletes are disgruntled with this new format.

Where do I sign up!!

this could also be huge for triathlon because it will be noticed that triathlon did this first, before any other sport. i wouldn't be surprised if this places pressure on other sports, notably athletics, esp in the marathon.

if this ends up being in Nice, and it's a multi-year deal, the big year will be the 2nd year. i don't think very many people have really thought through the optics of a women's only WC, pro and AG, in europe. upwards of 3000 women. it's not that this many women haven't raced in the same place at the same time. it's that this many women have never raced as the only gender, in a WC, same money as the male athletes, same number of qualifying athletes, and in europe. esp southern europe, where the percentage of women participating in the IM are way lower than in, say, the UK or countries on other continents. if this story is really told, properly, this is going to be a title IX moment for europe and it could well be that the sponsors and industry see this as a much bigger deal than they will for the men's version. this could also be huge for triathlon because it will be noticed that triathlon did this first, before any other sport. i wouldn't be surprised if this places pressure on other sports, notably athletics, esp in the marathon.

Have you done Kona before? If you take the show away from Kona (the pro’s, industry folks, breakfast with bob, coffee swim up boat, underwear run, ST party, TGINRP, etc), the race is really no different than any other Ironman.

The appeal of Kona to most is the show. If you take away the show, the demand won’t be the same.

Have you done Kona before? If you take the show away from Kona (the pro’s, industry folks, breakfast with bob, coffee swim up boat, underwear run, ST party, TGINRP, etc), the race is really no different than any other Ironman.

The appeal of Kona to most is the show. If you take away the show, the demand won’t be the same.

Have you done Kona before? If you take the show away from Kona (the pro’s, industry folks, breakfast with bob, coffee swim up boat, underwear run, ST party, TGINRP, etc), the race is really no different than any other Ironman.

The appeal of Kona to most is the show. If you take away the show, the demand won’t be the same.

Pressure for marathons like London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, etc. to have separate women's only events because otherwise haven't there been strong women's pro fields and thousands of AG women competing in those events for many years?

Personally, I wouldn't make the expensive trip from the East Coast it didn't come with all the bells and whistles of being the WC.

Thank you for saying this.

People keep saying that they don’t care about a WC and they just want kona. But if you take the WC out of Kona, Kona loses its buzz and appeal which I think some folks don’t quite grasp.

St George definitely didn’t have the normal Kona buzz this year and I’m sure Nice or any other venue will be similar. Some of the buzz might be lost, but is that really a tangible loss for the sport, the athletes, fans, industry, and supporters of the sport? Or just a mental one we have in our own heads?

People don’t get it. It’s not Ironman.

KONA SAID NO!!