Would be good for the spectators. Pretty screwed up for her competitors that had to plan a season to validate or qualify. She wasn’t hurt and could have planned her season accordingly to race it. Maybe she was banking on a gold medal which gets her a slot? I’m sure her competitors would be happy to have not had to run a marathon in a race and just get a wildcard.
yeah, i’ve said in the past that i think kona/nice should make liberal use of wildcards to make the race exciting. but i admit if i were on the start line i’d be a little miffed if they gave one to a relay silver medalist who didn’t have the huge racing mileage on her legs that me and all the other girls did.
i guess ultimately the thing about IM being private is they can invite whoever they like.
Imagine being Lucy Charles and you were told you had to do a validation race and that race has now lead you to getting potentially hurt. Then hearing they are just gonna give someone a wildcard slot who has chosen to race short course all year. I think miffed would be an understatement.
Lucy also could have chosen to run walk it in but instead decided to do a full out effort.
I’m split on Knibb. I think if she hadn’t done any Ironman this year I’d say no, but she has won a 70.3. I vote they give her a wildcard. They need her to keep doing Ironman’s and not just T100 moving forward.
Would be good for the spectators. Pretty screwed up for her competitors that had to plan a season to validate or qualify. She wasn’t hurt and could have planned her season accordingly to race it. Maybe she was banking on a gold medal which gets her a slot? I’m sure her competitors would be happy to have not had to run a marathon in a race and just get a wildcard.
yeah, i’ve said in the past that i think kona/nice should make liberal use of wildcards to make the race exciting. but i admit if i were on the start line i’d be a little miffed if they gave one to a relay silver medalist who didn’t have the huge racing mileage on her legs that me and all the other girls did.
i guess ultimately the thing about IM being private is they can invite whoever they like.
Imagine being Lucy Charles and you were told you had to do a validation race and that race has now lead you to getting potentially hurt. Then hearing they are just gonna give someone a wildcard slot who has chosen to race short course all year. I think miffed would be an understatement.
Lucy also could have chosen to run walk it in but instead decided to do a full out effort.
I’m split on Knibb. I think if she hadn’t done any Ironman this year I’d say no, but she has won a 70.3. I vote they give her a wildcard. They need her to keep doing Ironman’s and not just T100 moving forward.
Yes because the reigning IM world champion is just gonna walk a marathon that she went to do as a practice race. Give me a break.
Knibb had every opportunity to qualify for the race. They even added this whole 2 70.3s for athletes like her and Kristian. She knew the rules and shouldn’t be rewarded for miss management of the season if she wanted to race nice and was banking on a gold medal. If they choose to add her they should just go back to no validations because that’s what it would be setting with this.
Just like Lucy “chose†to do a full out effort so did Taylor “choose†to structure her season like this.
I think IM will cave in. They’d need some star power for the first women’s WC race in Nice. LCB is hurt and who know if she’ll be at her best. Anne Haug will be up there but not that marketable. Kat Matthews is a contender with a compelling story. Laura Phillip is solid. Daniela Ryf is also coming from an injury and will be more like Frodeno from last year. Knibb and her team knows that IM would be open to something because she’s the present and future of long course. I’d think that the Triathlete magazine interview was pretty calculated.
I think IM will cave in. They’d need some star power for the first women’s WC race in Nice. LCB is hurt and who know if she’ll be at her best. Anne Haug will be up there but not that marketable. Kat Matthews is a contender with a compelling story. Laura Phillip is solid. Daniela Ryf is also coming from an injury . . . . Knibb and her team knows that IM would be open to something because she’s the present and future of long course. I’d think that the Triathlete magazine interview was pretty calculated.You have missed out the ‘moms’: Sodaro and Hering in your review of the likely contenders.
How can Haug be so imperious at Roth and three weeks later ignominious at London? Bear in mind (fighting for #3) Philipp raced Roth and Matthews raced Vitoria (13 days before) with an even shorter gap. Imagine how much closer to (or ahead of) Gentle both of those would’ve been with less tired legs on the bike and running dockside.
I think IM will cave in. They’d need some star power for the first women’s WC race in Nice. LCB is hurt and who know if she’ll be at her best. Anne Haug will be up there but not that marketable. Kat Matthews is a contender with a compelling story. Laura Phillip is solid. Daniela Ryf is also coming from an injury and will be more like Frodeno from last year. Knibb and her team knows that IM would be open to something because she’s the present and future of long course. I’d think that the Triathlete magazine interview was pretty calculated.
i would agree they need knibb to attract more usa people to Nice
the argument will be that she was the only athlete that competed in 2 sports in paris
Didn’t the Ironman 70.3 World Champion used to get a Kona slot? Rinny did her first ever Ironman in Hawaii because she won the Ironman 70.3 World Champs the prior year.
Grant Knibb a slot on the basis of her being the reigning 70.3 World Champ…
Knibb was incredible today! Fastest split out of all of the female competitors.//
Well one could say she was responsible for 5 people getting medals, 4 in the relay and the cycling gold. I hope all the folks that were adamant that she race the RR can now see how silly that was. That one decision got the US 5 more medal athletes, which would have certainly been 0 had she raced. And even if that RR would have only affected her by .01%, would have cost the silver medal for 4 US athletes. It matters when the margins are 100’s of a second!!!
an individual medal worth more imho. everyone remembers the 400m medal winner not the 400x4. They even diluted other sports like basketball by adding 3v3
Slowtwitch medal hating right here. She’s an Olympian let alone 2x Olympic silver medalist…
guess it’s worthless.
Hasn’t this been discussed? Yes she has an auto NQ, but would’ve needed to validate it.Sure… the validation is now two 70.3s instead of one…To help you understand, validation for Taupo required competitive completion of one 70.3: Knibb achieved this at Oceanside, Blummenfelt has raced none. As the 2023 70.3WC she gets offered a slot, providing she validates to IMWC 2024 Nice. For IMWC that validation is either two 70.3s by 30 June or one IM by 19 August.
Everyone bar these two (and Bogen doesn’t want to go to Kona) has validated in one of two ways.
Blummenfelt is racing in 10 days to validate for Kona (and Taupo).
Knibb chose not to race a second 70.3 this spring (but did CHOOSE to include a T100 in her successful preparation for her contribution to USA’s overachievement on Monday). She could choose to validate by racing in Sweden in 10 days.
Knibb has raced sparingly this spring: Yokohama, Cagliari, T100 San Francisco and then a standard distance and MTR in Paris: total 266km.
Every other athlete in the contender cohort in Nice has had (chosen) to race more (with some force/requirement driven by the need to validate or qualify (Hering, Matthews).
My view is that requiring validation forces those athletes with an exemption to at least complete the same distance of racing that those who, in the IM system, have to gain slots normally. It also forces athletes to race at least one IM. As I’ve previously described, when validation was not required in 2023 all the WPROs with exemptions (Ryf, Haug, Sodaro, LCB, Knibb) chose not to race a full distance IM in the racing year: Ryf and Haug raced Roth.
Don’t you think IM would be upset she chose to race a T100 over a validation race and now she’s just hoping to get let in? Would this set a precedent for next year and validation where the top people will just decide to do T100 races and then ask last minute for a wildcard? Like I said before they told Kristian only a gold medal would be an entry. Seems pretty cut and dry if they have a backbone.
Yes: I’d be pissed off if I was IRONMAN but being pissed off is trumped by commercial benefit. They need a lead American: and on form I can’t see that being Sodaro. Hering maybe but for a top 6, not challenging for the podium.
Having said that can Knibb seriously be ready for Nice which is 3 weeks before Kona was last year? And while she’s deadly uphill, I wonder how her fast on a TT bike Vence road skills are (I don’t know but look how Lindemann pulled her back round every corner/180).
And whilst gifting her a pass may annoy, they hold the trumps and do not have to follow suit next year.
Ten T100s (requiring racing 8?) in 2025 is going to put a strain on the robustness of athletes who also want to race the IMWC.
IM will rely on the attraction of IMWC Nice/Kona being sufficiently great to force athletes to make choices.
Of the full distance capable athletes only Lange and Blummenfelt declined the contract offer. But that offer was ‘race six 100km races March-November’ (which will allow Nice/Kona, and you can still do Taupo). Next year back end compressed and choices to be made.
I don’t think you can put herring and Sodaro in the same conversation. Had Mathews not been dqed at Hamburg herrings time would not look as crazy. Also I believe that was a new course after the death last year. She couldn’t even back up her win in Germany in lake placid. Sodaro is better at fulls than t100. That’s very evident. She set a course record in New Zealand this year with a 5 minute penalty which many people forget because it was so early. She is also not suited well for the race in London because it was so flat. She only weighs 52 kg. Nice will suit her better and she will have been with her new coach and bike for a while. Only had 4 rides on it prior to London. She also had one of the fastest decents in 2019 at 70.3 worlds so she can handle a bike.
Don’t you think IM would be upset she chose to race a T100 over a validation race and now she’s just hoping to get let in? Would this set a precedent for next year and validation where the top people will just decide to do T100 races and then ask last minute for a wildcard? Like I said before they told Kristian only a gold medal would be an entry. Seems pretty cut and dry if they have a backbone.
You are assuming that was her choice. Her ability to race is controlled by US Tri so that was maybe down to them and not letting her race a 2nd 70.3. Don’t know what the timetabling was but maybe they just mitigated risk and limited her racing.
Don’t you think IM would be upset she chose to race a T100 over a validation race and now she’s just hoping to get let in? Would this set a precedent for next year and validation where the top people will just decide to do T100 races and then ask last minute for a wildcard? Like I said before they told Kristian only a gold medal would be an entry. Seems pretty cut and dry if they have a backbone.
You are assuming that was her choice. Her ability to race is controlled by US Tri so that was maybe down to them and not letting her race a 2nd 70.3. Don’t know what the timetabling was but maybe they just mitigated risk and limited her racing.
Not sure how that would make sense. She chose to race the T100 the same weekend as Boulder 70.3 which would have validated her. Pretty much the same distance. She chose T100 over Im but now wants an invite. She seems to want it all which is great but she should also have to play by the same rules as everyone else.
You know this, but there’s already a beta version of the parking lot course. It was called Super League Malibu and anyone can watch past editions of the race on YouTube (there thankfully not being a future edition in sight). It’s not a course that would create separation between athletes, other than through crashes.
I’ve been to that course as well as the Long Beach course(s), and neither will create separations IMO. As I am looking around the surrounding areas, there are so many other potential places where they could make for an interesting course, e.g. the PV area.
Not sure how that would make sense. She chose to race the T100 the same weekend as Boulder 70.3 which would have validated her. Pretty much the same distance. She chose T100 over Im but now wants an invite. //
It makes sense because at the time that SF race may net her over $100k for that days race, vs chump change at Boulder…She got race day 1st $$ and a great score to go after the $200k overall prize att he end. And without two other full Ironmans, not likely to get close to the big money in that series, even if she wins both WC’s there. And this does not even factor in bonus money, which could easily be double what she earns strategy away from the races and series…
Still think they should give a blanket invite to all medal winners, besides Knibb they just might get some more every interesting athletes that would help pump up those races…
Not sure how that would make sense. She chose to race the T100 the same weekend as Boulder 70.3 which would have validated her. Pretty much the same distance. She chose T100 over Im but now wants an invite. //
It makes sense because at the time that SF race may net her over $100k for that days race, vs chump change at Boulder…She got race day 1st $$ and a great score to go after the $200k overall prize att he end. And without two other full Ironmans, not likely to get close to the big money in that series, even if she wins both WC’s there. And this does not even factor in bonus money, which could easily be double what she earns strategy away from the races and series…
Still think they should give a blanket invite to all medal winners, besides Knibb they just might get some more every interesting athletes that would help pump up those races…
He was saying that usat didn’t want her to race a 70.3 but she raced the t100 on the same weekend. That’s what I was responding to.
I don’t really remember a time when we equated the relay medals with individual medals. Once again she wanted it all and put it out there in the tt at Paris and paid the price in the individual race. They should for sure not give a blanket invite to medal winners in the relay race. That just makes the qualification process and validation process look like an utter joke to all the other pros who race long course.