TAMPA, Florida: Already postponed until early 2021, IRONMAN Wednesday pulled the plug on hosting a ‘2020’ World Championship in either IRONMAN distance (Kona, Hawaii) or IRONMAN 70.3 (Taupō, New Zealand).
There was initially a rescheduled date of 6th February 2021 for the Hawaii event, but along with a hoped for “early 2021” date for Taupō, both have now been removed completely, as the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic continue.
A statement issued by The IRONMAN Group reads: "Based on careful consideration in accordance with numerous criteria – the state of the pandemic around the world, border and travel restrictions, athlete qualification opportunities, our mission to host a truly competitive world championship, and our desire to provide our athletes and host communities as much preparation time as possible – we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand simply cannot proceed. There is considerable effort that goes into producing, and qualifying and training for a world championship event, thus this is a decision we’ve not taken lightly.
"While we are beyond disappointed to not be hosting the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship for the first time since 2006, we will immediately shift our full focus towards creating exceptional world championship experiences for future editions. The event will return on September 17-18, 2021 in St. George, Utah, USA. We are also actively working to bring the event to Taupō, New Zealand in 2022.
"Athletes registered for the event will be receiving an email with further information. If you have additional questions, please contact [email protected].
"We thank our athletes for their commitment and our team looks forward to delivering an exceptional IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship race when we return in 2021."
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