Ironman World Championships Preview: Kona 2024
Just like that one month has flown by from the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice for the women, and we are just a few days away, fro the men’s equivalent in Kona, Hawaii.
As mentioned in the Nice preview, this is the second year of the split locations, so after the Championships on Saturday, we will have completed one rotation, both women and men, racing both in Nice and Kona.
The race starts in the centre of Kona, at the famous Dig Me Beach. The crowds lining the pier and break wall. The swim is pretty straight forward, a large rectangular shape as athletes head straight out from the beach along the coast line, around the boats marking the turnaround, and back to the pier for T1. Then 180km (112miles) along the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, which many call the Queen K for short. Many also call it brutal, particularly on the way back. The bike is an out and back. Rolling along the Queen K, before climbing up to Hawi and the turnaround. A fast descent, and a long drag back along the Queen K, trying to tick off the landmarks that bring you closer to T2. The run, starts with an out and back along the popular Ali’i Drive, before athletes head up and back onto the Queen K, for a brutal run along the highway to the Energy Lab. The Energy Lab is an out and back section, and a significant marker on the run course, once out of the Energy Lab, although still a long way to go to the finish, you are on the way home. But the Energy Lab can suck the life out of you, and the last 10km to the finish can last forever. There’s very little shade at all on the bike or the run, and the wind can pick up, often changing direction. It can be known to be a headwind out to the start of the climb to Hawi, and by the time you descend back, the wind has switched and it’s a headwind back.
Thirteen of the top fifteen from 2023 (Nice) are lining up in Kona. Then add in the 2022 Champion, Gustav Iden and third place finisher, Kristian Blummenfelt and also just the general strength and depth of this year’s men’s field, and it could be one of the closest and most exciting races seen.
Sam Laidlow (FRA) led for much of the race in 2022, finally being caught by Iden in the last 10km and finishing in second. He went on to win the following year in Nice, in an extraordinary performance, that had Patrick Lange (GER) in second and Magus Ditlev (DEN) in third (No Iden in Nice). Laidlow had a slow start to the 2024 with his results, but in the last two races, T100 London and T100 Ibiza he showed his form finishing first and second respectively. Over the past few years, Laidlow’s form has fluctuated. He’s either on it, or it’s a DNF or lower top 10 result. His last two races are the first time he’s strung two great results together, so potentially he’ll be on song and crush Kona, or...well, he won’t.
The Norwegians. Between Blummenfelt and Iden, they have won everything there is in the sport. Blummenfelt, Olympic Champion, IRONMAN World Champion, IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion. Iden, IRONMAN World Champion, 2x IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion. Whilst neither of them had the year they wanted, (Blummenfelt aiming to defend his Olympic title but falling short and Iden suffering injury and family loss over the past few years), don’t write either of them off in Kona. If the Norwegians know anything (and well they know a lot anyway), they know how to prepare for the big day. Blummenfelt, just two weeks after the Paris Olympics, and apparently with very little long course training, put in a performance at IRONMAN Frankfurt to take the win, that should have warned all the Pro Men, what may come in Kona. Iden, whilst winning the last time the men raced in Kona, he’s a bit of an unknown quantity this year, so could for sure be dangeorous.
Patrick Lange (GER) has been a long time favourite at the World Champs, and has won twice in Kona, 2016 and 2017 (and was second in Nice last year). He knows this course and it suits his racing. Perhaps showing the calibre of racing these days, Lange has also a mixed (ish) year, but did take the win at IRONMAN Texas this year, albeit belatedly awarded following Tomas Rodriguez’s ban for doping.
Magnus Ditlev (DEN), has (I feel) been pretty quiet heading into Kona this year, although comes in as the PTO World #1 ranked. (However no real surprise as Ditlev is a quieter guys who just puts his head down and does the work.) He was third at IRONMAN World Champs in Nice (2022) and in 2024 became the three-peat Challenge Roth Champion. He’s also had great results in the T100, a win in Miami at the start of the year, and two fourths (San Francisco and London). On Kona debut in 2022, Ditlev picked up a disputed drafting penalty and finished eighth but I think this year off the back of his results and that 2022 performance, he’ll be in the mix and could take the win for sure.
I could really go on listing all the men I think could win, podium, top 5 and even top 10, there are so many men this year that could take it. Any full distance relies on a little bit of luck and the cards falling the right way, and I feel Kona more so than most. Being the World Championships, for many it’s also “go or blow”. Aiming for the win and taking the risk to fall way off, if things derail. For many of the top contenders too, they are not in the running for the IRONMAN Pro Series.
American Matt Hanson currently leads the Series, with 16,826 points, 3984 ahead of Arnaud Guilloux (FRA) in second, Jackon Laundry (CAN), third (12839) and Lange in fourth (12,623). Eight of the top ten men in the series are racing which will make for some interesting battles within. There are 6000 points for the win in Kona, compared to 5000 for other IRONMAN races through the year. For every 1second behind the winner, athletes get 1 point deducted. For example, if second place finishes 5seconds behind the winner, they will receive 5995 points. Athletes can count their best five results for the end of the year series rankings, of which a maximum of three can be full distances.
Hanson, already has his maximum number of races, 3xIM, and 2x70.3, so will be hoping his result in Kona, will be more points than one of his IM races, to improve his score. He needs a result that will give him more than 4270 points. Which means he needs to be within 28mins and 50seconds of the winner to improve his score. For the rest of the men, ranked in the top ten of the series and racing Kona (Guilloux, Laundry, Lange, Bradley Weiss (ZAF), Chris Leiferman (USA), Robert Kallin (SWE), Matthew Marquardt (USA)), they all have only registered two IRONMAN results so far, so if they cross the line in Kona, their score will make it three and so likely significant movements in position.
As said there are of course other athletes to watch and who could be a long shot for the win and podium, but could definitely impact the race, and also make moves in the IRONMAN Pro Series. Marquardt led out the water in Nice last year, and has been a dominant swim/biker in most of his races this year. He is a legit runner too, just sometimes fading or being run down by the exceptional runners. But his run is improving and soon they won’t be able to catch up. Lionel Sanders, is always going to try to cause chaos on the bike and will hoping to emulate or better his best Kona result in 2017, where he finished 2nd. Also perhaps Braden Currie (NZL) or Antonio Benito Lopez (ES). Currie has had a mixed season. Second at IRONMAN Cairns, but then several DNF as well. However, he has pedigree in Kona, finishing 7th (2019), 5th (2018), and has like many had this race as a key focus for the year. Lopez is currently ranked 13th on the PTO World Rankings, and this year won IRONMAN Vittoria-Gasteiz and the WT Long Distance Championships. He also more recently finished 6th at the T100 Ibiza. A bit of a unknown and dark horse in Kona. Another dark house… American Trevor Foley. Still very new and young to the sport, but with a huge amount of ability and talent. Also Rudy Von Berg (USA) and Leon Chevalier (FRA) have performed well at Worlds before.
The list goes on…
Who’s your pick for Kona?
Finally, we must also say a huge good luck to Team Parcours athlete Ross Harper who will be competing in Kona this Saturday!
