IRONMAN has updated its age group qualifying process for both the IRONMAN and 70.3 World Championship events from 2026 onwards, and there is much to unpack and understand. As the #1 ranked coaching service in Kona 2024 we try to explain how it all works and even simulate some recent races to better explain how it would look.
Why?
‘Based on athlete feedback and our own due diligence, we believe the new approach is even more consistent with our principle that the most competitive athletes are recognized and rewarded with qualifying slots. In the prior system, qualifying slots rolled down within gender and age group, and the number of slots allocated to each gender and age group was based on how many people were racing within that gender and age group. In some cases, highly competitive athletes were unable to earn a slot because their age group or gender was under-represented in a race. In contrast, some athletes who were less competitive relative to their age group would earn a slot because their age group was over-represented and thus had more slots allocated to it. In the new system, we rank athletes based on their relative performance (vs. their age-group), and irrespective of age or gender, the most competitive athletes on race day receive qualifying slots until all available slots for that race are claimed.’
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