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Ironman Kona To Go Online for 2020”
“The IRONMAN series announced today it would replace its traditional Ironman championship in Kona, Hawaii this October with an online, virtual race.
Instead of taking place in the wave-swept ocean and the lava-bracketed roads of the Big Island, athletes will compete in pools, and on stationary bikes and treadmills.
“We want to continue the grand tradition of Ironman,” said a media spokeswoman for the IM brand, and its owner, the World Triathlon Group, “while keeping the competitors and spectators safe.”
“Holding the event outdoors at the jam-packed Kona venue during the same year as a pandemic is just too big a risk.”
IRONMAN had considered holding the race by screening out any racers testing positive for the virus, and by enforcing tight social distancing rules for spectators on the course.
“But that just proved too complicated and expensive,” added the spokeswoman. “The health of our athletes and fans is paramount.”
Instead, each competitor’s performance will be accurately tracked by electronic devices attached to their bodies. The data will be relayed to race headquarters, which will post the results as they come in on the IM website. NBC has pledged to carry the results live.
Fans of Ironman are already debating whether the times for this year’s classic will be faster or slower than normal.
Traditionally, treadmill times are slower than running outdoors.
On the other hand, due to the lack of Kona’s notoriously strong winds, the times on stationary bikes may be faster.
How a competitor will perform swimming in an endless pool is anyone’s guess.
The World Triathlon Group, which is owned by the Chinese conglomerate the Wanda Group, promises to host the 2021 event in the outdoors.
Instead of Kona, however, it is considering moving the race to its home country, to a major host city such as Shanghai, or Wuhan.
It is also mulling moving the race date up to early April, perhaps to April 1.”
