Triathlon: Ironman Hawaii also canceled for 2021 – new date is set

Stand: 12:12 a.m.| Reading time: 3 minutes

Dhe two-time Hawaii champion Patrick Lange first had to get on his racing bike and exert himself to digest the news. On the morning of August 19, the news leaked from the USA, which was barely imaginable a few days ago, but which then emerged at a rapid pace in the hours before: The Ironman World Championship in Hawaii is not to take place this October either .

This was first reported by the specialist portal tri-mag.de and referred, among other things, to one of the race directors and a written rejection to the volunteers. Local media in Hawaii also reported. In the scene, the information spread around the world in the morning, even if the organizer did not officially confirm anything. This only happened in the late evening of German time.

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It is the third cancellation or postponement in a row: First the race in October 2020 was postponed to February 2021, so that two competitions should take place this year – in February and October. Due to the pandemic, however, the February appointment had to be canceled. And now also the one on October 9, 2021.

It was only a week ago that professionals and age group athletes competed for Kona starting places at the Ironman Frankfurt. However, Ironman had already given the qualified athletes the choice of postponing their starting positions to a later Hawaii race.

The background to this is the increasing corona numbers in Hawaii, where the strongest wave of infections since the beginning of the pandemic is currently recorded – starting from mostly unvaccinated people. Around 54 percent of Hawaii’s residents have been fully vaccinated against Corona so far, 73 percent have a vaccine dose.

Postponement to February 2022

“The resurgence of the virus and the new Delta variant are having a significant impact on the Hawaiian island community,” said Andrew Messick, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Ironman Group, in a press release. Together with border closings and travel restrictions for qualified athletes, there is no viable option to host the Ironman World Cup in October. After consulting with government and community representatives in Hawaii, they believe that the best solution is to postpone it.

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The Ironman World Cup will not be canceled without replacement, but should be rescheduled on February 5, 2022. So, if the pandemic allows, there will be a scenario with two title races in the coming year – as already planned for 2021. That would not be a novelty in the long history of the Ironman: the premiere of the 1978 premiere was fired on February 18 – back then in Honululu. In 1981 the competition moved to the Big Island, and then two titles were awarded in 1982 when the race moved from its original date earlier this year to the fall.

On Wednesday, tri-mag.de reported on the local displeasure in Hawaii and discussions in political circles. Acting Governor Mitch Roth said the likelihood of an October event was “very, very low”. The problem is “not so much the athletes, but the large number of spectators who travel to Hawaii as part of the event. We are currently considering closing the beaches and parks again due to the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 infections. “

On Thursday morning, the portal received an email that Kimi Hammonds, Post Race Director of the Hawaii race, sent to the local volunteers. Hammonds confirmed the sending of the email with the following wording: “Tonight it was announced that this year’s race would be postponed to February 2022. As sad as we are all about the fact that there won’t be a race, it was the right decision for our community. I am so grateful for everyone who volunteered and I hope you will re-register for the race in February. “