at the end of the day while a strong filed kona last year keeps the title strongest female field ever by a solid margin given that ryf and knibb are not there.
you are the master strenght of field and i would be sure its refelcted in sof
one thing is pretty clear the winner will have a german coach…
The PTO show the SOF as 95.61. I see London’s 97.09 as the top (WPRO) SOF ‘of all time’. Last year’s IMWC(Women’s) SOF was 93.35 (but I think there’s some (gradual) inflation creep built into the PTO Ranking system.
Five of the top 7 ranked race on Sunday. The two missing either don’t or currently aren’t racing full distance (Gentle and Knibb). In fact very few full distance athletes in the PTO top #20 are missing: Simmonds (not since 2021), Moench (pregnant) and Watkinson (34 mins behind Sodaro in IMNZ) the capable but not starting ones.
https://stats.protriathletes.org/race/ironman-nice-world-championships/2024/participants
NB Lorang not German!
I struggle to accept that Knibb is ranked 1 when she has never beaten LCB or Haug in a full IM race.
Knibb has only done 1 IM. And the rankings are not just about IM distance races. What’s knibb’s record against LCB and Haug in all races (t100, 70.3, 140.6)?
Do you also struggle to understand why Gentle is ranked below LCB though in every race, Gentle has come out ahead?
https://stats.protriathletes.org/head-to-head/lucy-charles-barclay/ashleigh-gentle
If there was a ranking system which ranked athletes according to (3) full distance results, Haug would lead by a country mile. Nor sure who’d be second (and I’m not wasting my time discovering). If only two fulls counted (in a rolling calendar year) then it’d be Haug with LCB, Matthews, Philip, Hering, in some sort of order.
To help you along @SheridanTris , have a look at the criteria for races that are included in the PTO Ranking protocol:
“Any non-drafting triathlon with a professional field that’s longer than Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and with a minimum prize purse of $10,000 is eligible for PTO World Ranking Points”
For @stevej Knibb v LCB comes out at two each (and everyone of those races was a world champs win, two each!)
For me this race is very exciting as was last year as the course really mixes up the athletes compared to kona.
The bike really shows more the over bike power and riding skills then overall power riding of kona and the run although flat there is more unknown during the ride due to the max effort the bike produces.
Wiess, lange moved up so much on that course , so you have to think haug has a big advantage and Sodaro. She has a great race there at 2019 worlds 70.3 .
If it was kona this year I would say , LCB , KAT and Laura phillips are my top 3 .
Nice I think more likley one of them with Haug and Sodaro.
Since it’s a full ironman it’s so dependent of a bit of luck of the day and timing of prep of course.
[quote=“Triathletetoth, post:126, topic:828729”]
Wiess, Lange moved up so much on that course , so you have to think Haug has a big advantage and Sodaro. She had a great race there at 2019 worlds 70.3 .
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Not sure about how well Lange and Weiss rode (and therefore the foundation of your hypothesis): no moving up on their peers (except Mignon who tried to go with Laidlow early on). Ditlev 4:36, Von Berg 4:37, Chevalier 4:29, Horseau 4:42, Lange 4:43, Weiss 4:44. Maybe you are suggesting that on a flatter course they’d have ridden comparatively slower.
https://stats.protriathletes.org/race/ironman-nice-world-championships/2023/results
Sodaro raced really well in Nice 5 years ago, though LCB would surely have beaten her without the drafting penalty.
https://stats.protriathletes.org/race/im-703-world-championship/2019/results
‘Triathlon Insights’ is publishing a series of 5 short youtubes on the 5 ‘favourites’. Looks as if he’s on his way riding all the way down from Calais to Nice this week. Good effort.
lange and wiess ( had a 5 min penalty too in that time) came off the bike much close to sam laidlow and Magnus then they would in kona on a per overall watts course vs watts per kg. Also leon. Keep in mind Lange road well enough to have his closest biek to the front and run a 2:32 marathon. if Sam had any fault on that run Lange would be in the goat conversation in LC tri.
nice 2019 was a half , now with so much more climbing we are not sure how a LBC would run vs a Sodaro or haug . We will know Saturday.
I know why people love kona, but I like the course changes as the race is kind of a mystery.
I am all for after 2026 to move the race around to new location with a 4 year kona return.
Laura Philipp appraisal:
Something interesting would be Kona 1x for men and 1x for women every 4 years and three other rotating locations (keep thme the same long term) and in the two other years when there is no Kona championships make it general entry and give priority entry to those who did 4 IM"s in the last 4 years and then open it up to general entry . It likely sells out in a day and for the pros, the 1x every 4 years makes winning Kona like winning the Olympics. If you don’t pull it off this time, you have to wait and you likely only have two legit shots in an entire career
Part of what makes the whole “Nice isn’t Kona” discussion possible is that Kona is still there, every other year. Each gender does one year of Kona, and then one year of Nice. If Kona was once every few years (and probably a smaller race) you wouldn’t get this same dynamic.
I’ve been saying for a while that Kona should be on a 5 year cycle (so it can be there on the big milestones: 50 years, 55, 60, etc.) and then each region gets a turn in the cycle. Find locations that can support 2 days so everyone’s together again and then Kona can be a smaller race at 50/50 gender split.
On the off years Kona can be a legacy/weighted lottery system. Number of ballots = number of IMs done in the past 10 years or something.
This way the legacy is satisfied, the sport comes back to its roots every now and again but we still keep the WC together and we can try new courses so different types of athletes can do well on different courses.
I like your proposal…once every 5 years makes sense and use the 4 years in between for legacy + general entry at Kona. And if you have to wait that long for Kona, the other locations end up with higher prestige
We are at their mercy but I would like. ( kona only every year , 1500 men , 1000 women)
Or
2027 mix men and women kona.
2028 men Europe , women North America
2029 mix in a small location ( South America, Asia )
2030 women Europe , men North americn
2031 mix men and women in kona.
The other years the rich can do kona .
That said as soon as the masses do kona , no one will pay to do kona as a world championship. It will die off so quick.
This would only be a good thing if the 5 years matches your bottom age of the age group . Or else a lot would hate it.
Gosh… it seems to me you’re talking a very small subset of people here. You really think you could draw enough people to race 4 WC locations… so they can get to Kona the 5th year? My perspective - all this about just having Kona be a rotating thing every once in a while… and primarily be a race for legacy people… I just don’t think that will work. People want to race in a WC at Kona… even if they they are cannon fodder, which almost all of us are. I’m going back for second time this year, at age 54. I’ll keep racing Tris, and likely IMs… for as long as I can. But I would never dream of going to Kona to race a “regular” Kona. Way too much $$$$$. We love going to Hawaii as a family, but if not for Kona Champs… my wife would never in a million years let me go to Hawaii to race a regular IM… if that would take away opportunity to go as a real family vacation. Granted, maybe we are different than a lot of triathletes and their families. After my first in 2007… I really haven’t asked them to come spectate (granted they have for a couple). IM races are really quite terrible for families/spectating, imho. At the end of the day… getting to go back for my second Kona, I’m probably good after this year. Only other race I still have on bucket list would be Roth…
it might actually correct since last year knibb was ranked no 1 and ryf
28th
and they had 5 of the top 7
and i assume it makes a dent if no 1 does not race
at the end of the day while not totally correct sof is still a solid marker.
fact is last year you had 7 legit contenders this yaer you have 5
and you are of course correct with lorang being from luxemburg
Did IM ever say anything about Knibb racing Nice or have they just stayed silent and since she hasn’t qualified she won’t be lining up. How late would be too late to announce her entry?
Only super wealthy obsessed triathletes like you Dev could afford this random idea. Kona is Kona.
What IM does need to do is make regional championships worth it.
I did look at the 2023 IMWC top five ranked: they were Knibb (#2), Haug (#3), Matthews (#5), LCB (#6), and Philipp (#8) whereas on Sunday its #23457: very similar.
(Rankings as at 9 Oct 2023 below)
https://stats.protriathletes.org/rankings/women?set=106
Last year 9 of the top ranked 20 raced the IMWC. This year it’s 8. But this really reflects the proportion of middle and long distance WPros who do/don’t race full distance.
When you consider the spread of field of (say) the top 6 in 2019 and before and compare it with the great competition last year and, I anticipate, this year, you see the developments. And I can see further excellent competition inbound which will more than replace Haug’s excellence, when she hangs up her shoes (Knibb, Derron, Simmonds, even one of the top athletes who have not yet chosen to go the whole way).
wouldn’t this be a good thing?