Why does Ironman require so many of the pros to validate each year? If you’ve met the qualification standard (prior winner, whatever it is), why make an athlete put another IM or HIM into their legs for the respective world championships? I get wanting top pros to race a few races, but at the end of the day, I would want the top ones to show up at the championship events.
There might be a few reasons, but one extremely valid reason this year is to make/push pros to race more IM races, and not only do PTO/T100 and jump-in for the Kona/Nice WC.
Because it helps promote other IM races other than the WC.
I see that angle for sure but I would want to see some flexibility. I don’t think Kristian Blummenfelt has validated for Kona 2024, right? He’s banking on winning Paris. If that doesn’t come together, I’d much rather see him toe the line in Kona, without having to validate, than find an IM race between the Olympics and Kona to check an arbitrary box and potentially need to adjust the training and recovery.
KB would be on a provisional start list for IM Frankfurt, to validate.
I see that angle for sure but I would want to see some flexibility//
As would we all, but Michal gave you the real reason, its a business one that has been present since the beginning of time. There is no concern for the individual athletes beyond what they can contribute to the overall IM brand and bottom line. Athletes are mostly expendable and replaceable in their minds, thus not really caring about their performances on a one on one basis…
In rare cases it does behove IM to make sure a particular athlete gets in, as that buzz does add to their success as a corporation… Like the deal they certainly did with Lucy mid season here, and the one I presume they will do with their defending mens champion who hasn’t qualified, and seems like the door is closed according to their printed guidelines…
And yes, Blu would be another athlete they want in, so imagine they might find a way to get him in too…I think they still have wildcards to use???
Why does Ironman require so many of the pros to validate each year? If you’ve met the qualification standard (prior winner, whatever it is), why make an athlete put another IM or HIM into their legs for the respective world championships? I get wanting top pros to race a few races, but at the end of the day, I would want the top ones to show up at the championship events.
Ironman made the judgement call that every athlete who wanted to race IMWC would be prepared to validate: and this is exactly what athletes have done, even swaying LCB over after she’d been deterred initially. And told athletes in plenty of time (October 2023) so that could inform their racing calendar.
It reflects their whole business model: to get athletes to race one of their races and this makes sure that even athletes who have been successful the year before race IM branded races (ie not just race Roth instead).
In addition there is a ‘fairness’ aspect: it is ‘unfair’ to give a very few top athletes a ‘free pass’ whereas all others have to race (and race hard) an IM-branded full distance race.
But of greater moment: 2023 experience: Ironman saw last year that almost ZERO athletes who were IMWC AQ’d completed a single Ironman before Nice/Kona: Ryf (Roth), Laidlow (Roth), Frodeno, Haug (Roth), Charles-Barclay, Knibb, Sodaro (Roth)(and the Norges didn’t want to race Nice and didn’t race an IM either)(Lange (IM Israel) was the only exception).
That alone surely motivated the entirely reasonable reinstatement of validation (it is their train set after all).
When IM reintroduced the validation requirement post the pandemic hiatus, they did make the burden slightly easier by offering the option of two 70.3s (and both Iden and Philipp took that up these last few months).
Knibb, if she’d wanted to race IMWC Nice this year, could have done that too by racing another 70.3 besides Oceanside, but she rather chose to race T100 San Francisco (because she enhances her chances of becoming World Champion twice over that way (WT LD Tour WC and IM70.3WC)). In interviews she has noted that a win in Paris was one of the ways of getting an IMWC start; but I think she/Dan will stick to the T100 campaign, followed by a threepeat in Taupo.
As an aside, I reckon that Knibb’s absence was factor in LCB’s change of mind to race Nice: it’s her last chance of a win before the Knibb dominance.
As far as those mentioned up thread: Blummenfelt will race Frankfurt; Ironman made no ‘deal’ with LCB: she just went and validated; and they’ll offer a start to Laidlow to race Frankfurt, and will really not care if he wants to be a headstrong princess: he stands to lose far more than they do.
All they need to do is finish to validate. Sam is trying to win. Would be funny if a pro did a goPro video of them doing 16:59 IM stopping to make coffee here and there or other time wasting acts to sand bag it
- You’d like your World Champion to make an appearance at other races you own throughout the year.
- It becomes an unfair advantage if competitors have to plan to taper/travel/race and your champion gets to stay home and train/recover.
- It prevents your World Champion from cherry picking your single top race and going and accepting invites from other competitors the rest of the year.
All they need to do is finish to validate. Sam is trying to win. Would be funny if a pro did a goPro video of them doing 16:59 IM stopping to make coffee here and there or other time wasting acts to sand bag it
What you describe ***may ***not be validation…from Ironman.com: “Validation Race†means racing competitively (as determined by IRONMAN in IRONMAN’s sole discretion)"
(emphasis on competitively added by me)
Scott
Already happened, sort off. Former Kona podium finishers used to jump into IMFL two weeks later and jog around to validate for the next year. IM didn’t like that and added some extra language there that they need to have a “competitive” performance or something similar. So if you sandbag it and it looks like you don’t give a crap they can invalidate your “performance” 
All they need to do is finish to validate. Sam is trying to win. Would be funny if a pro did a goPro video of them doing 16:59 IM stopping to make coffee here and there or other time wasting acts to sand bag it
All they need to do is finish to validate.
But why? Isn’t that stupid? What is the purpose of making a world champion show that he/she is capable of completing the distance?
Clearly it is just WTC wanting to mandate that their prestigious show pony appear at one of their races and this is leverage they have to do so. Otherwise what could possibly be the point? Show you are not injured? Show you can complete the distance?
Keep in mind that the concept of validating a Kona entry first came from Kona lottery winners and Kona entries earned from Olympic distance races way back when (and later Kona tickets punched at 70.3 races). Those Kona qualifiers had to first “validate” by first completing a full IM before being allowed to race Kona. It is highly likely this entire ridiculous “Kona champion must validate” thinking came from this pre-existing validate requirement for lesser folks, which actually did have a basis in sound judgement.
It is worth noting that in Track & Field, each individual athlete world champion automatically earns qualification into the following world championship for that event. No caveats. No mandate that they must be healthy or complete a single race or participate in the Diamond League. If you are the world champion you have earned right to defend. Full stop. As it should be. WTC should take notes.
I agree, seems crazy to me to miss out on getting the top athletes to your top event out of principle. To the unfair competitive advantage, in most cases, it was earned - bye to the next WC. Byes happen in all sorts of sports.
Look at golf, you allow your top players a certain number of exemptions for the majors based on past success. Makes sense to get the top talent there, even if it’s old and washed up talent since it’s a good story. Let the athletes decide if they are fit enough to compete. Just my opinion. It would be bad for IM and the sport if we miss out on some great battles since an athlete or two failed to validate.
I think it is as simple as they have a championship and have a 'regular season’s and they want the people to participate in regular season before playoffs (maybe view swim and bike as quarter and semi finals and run as finals). So if you want to get to finals go thru regular seasons and Ironmans regular season not another leagues. The athletes are expendible in this system. There is always a new champion tomorrow as the old.one becomes largely irrelevant to the machine. That’s just how all these pro sports roll.
Sam Laidlaw had all year to get his invite firmed up but left things to the last moment and now we have a mess on account of him+ref
Standard business “link and leverage” tactic (as others have mentioned). Competing in the IMWC carries so much value for pros and their sponsors that IM can extract additional commitments from them as the “price” of entry.
Why does Ironman require so many of the pros to validate each year? If you’ve met the qualification standard (prior winner, whatever it is), why make an athlete put another IM or HIM into their legs for the respective world championships? I get wanting top pros to race a few races, but at the end of the day, I would want the top ones to show up at the championship events.
The worst bit is they take the piss and treat the validation as a training day.
I remember when mirinda Carfrae half arsed a q race. Pete Jacobs did it heaps. Im sure others have but I’ve never paid much attention to professionals.
And I use that term as a joke. I dont think we even have professionals in Ironman anyway.
They are horrible with the media, and give absolutely nothing back to the grass roots. They earn lame money and act unprofessionally.