Ironman Triathlon returns to Kona in 2026, men's and women's races combined
KONA, Hawaii (KHON2) — The Ironman Triathlon is expected to go through a big change in 2026, with the World Championship returning to Kona.
In 2026, men and women will be competing together on the same day. In 2022, the Ironman was held over two days, separating the men and women. But officials said that was unsustainable for the Kona community.
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After that, the men and women's races were held in different locations. But based on feedback from athletes, the decision was made to have everyone race together in Kona.
Senior Vice President Diana Bertsch of World Championship Events said the last time the men and women raced together in Kona was back in 2019.
'In 2020, 2021, we had to postpone, cancel and in 2021, we moved that event to St. George in Utah. It really just developed. It's a domino effect, and ultimately, we have thousands of athletes who are qualifying. In 2022, we did a two-day event in Kona and it was just not the right decision for the community. We found out about the impact was overwhelming and we had to redirect,' said Bertsch.
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Bertsch said the Kona community makes the event possible.
'And it's not just this event that happens in Kona. But the world comes to Kona. It's definitely something to celebrate. We listen to our community, we have teams that go out after the race through the night and into the next day and clean up. Clean up rubbish, clean up chalk that people may have done. They want to cheer their family member, their loved ones, so they'll put chalk. Go number 345. And so we're definitely committed. It's a priority for us to ensure that we take care of the land, take care of our island. It's my home, so it's something that we've dug into to make certain that we meet those needs in every way that we can,' said Bertsch.
Check out more news from around Hawaii
This year's Ironman World Championship is taking place in France.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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