Ironman announces 2025 dates for world championships in Nice and Kona

Those unhappy with Ironman’s decision to split the Ironman World Championship between two sites won’t be happy to see the news that Ironman has announced the dates for the 2025 events. Those who enjoyed the split venues and men’s- and women’s only racing will be thrilled to see that the rotation appears to be set to continue through 2026, as was previously announced. The men’s race in Nice will be held on Sept. 14, 2025, while the women’s race in Kona will be held on Oct. 14, 2025.

Ironman was forced to split the events last year after the two days of racing in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in 2022 led to number of complaints from the local community. News of the split events broke in late 2022, with Ironman making the announcement that Nice would host the men’s race in 2023. At that time Ironman announced that “the rotation will continue through 2026 with Nice and Kona acting as co-hosts for the pinnacle event in triathlon.”

We reported extensively on the issues around the two days of racing on the Big Island, that included traffic congestion from the huge influx of athletes and their families to the Big Island for the two days of racing. Many community members were also critical of the two days of racing in 2022 because the promised profit went unnoticed by many Hawaiians. Hotels, car rental companies and other tourist infrastructure certainly benefited from the many additional visitors. But, with the already high travel and accommodation costs, inflation and the dollar exchange rate, which was unfavorable for many international guests, willingness to buy and consume was rather low.

So, despite a deal that had been struck during the summer of 2022 with officials on the Island, Ironman was forced into a tough decision – split the event to two venues and keep separate days for men’s and women’s racing, or return to a one-day event and remain exclusively in Kona.

Last year’s men’s race in Nice was considered by most a resounding success, and there was even more praise for the women’s-only event in Kona.

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The dates for 2025 return to the approximate weekends from last year’s racing. In 2024 the races will be held later (Nice on Sept. 22, Kona on Oct. 26)  due to the Olympics and Paralympics that are taking place in Paris.