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Gustav Iden won the Ironman in Hawaii in 2022
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David Pintens / dpa
The men's race for the Ironman World Championship will not take place in Hawaii in 2023.
The organizer announced this on Thursday night and justified the decision with the experiences from the World Cup this year.
The racing series breaks with another tradition, after the men's and women's races started separately on two days for the first time this year.
The reason for this was the high number of participants after there had been no World Cup in Hawaii in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic.
The 2021 World Cup was rescheduled in St. George in the USA in May of this year.
In 2023, there will only be the women's race at the birthplace of the Ironman on October 14th.
It is still unclear where the men's World Championships will be decided over the 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.6 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running.
The Ironman myth lives nowhere like it does in Hawaii
Ironman initially only confirmed that it will not be in Hawaii.
One location is still being evaluated, and a decision should be announced in January next year.
"Hawaii is in the DNA of our sport and we're excited to have the first exclusive Women's World Championships race week in Kona," said Ironman President and CEO Andrew Messick.
Whether the athletes share the joy remains to be seen.
The Ironman myth lives nowhere like it does in Hawaii.
However, the high number of participants this year (there were practically twice as many athletes due to the split into two races) also resulted in significantly higher costs due to the limited availability of accommodation, among other things.
"We've learned that more than one day of racing during Ironman week is too much for the community," said Hawaii Mayor Mitch Roth.
In 2024 the men will start in Hawaii and the women somewhere else.
According to tri-mag.de, Nice should be discussed as an alternative.
ara/dpa
