Ironman World Championship Preview
All eyes of the triathlon world will be focused on the Ironman World Championship taking place this coming Saturday October 12.
The race week buzz is in full swing in Kona and here is a glimpse of some of the action in the water.
So who will win?
Will the defending champions (Pete Jacobs and Leanda Cave) hold on to their titles? Can Craig Alexander take his 4th Ironman World Title at the age of 40? Can Sebastian Kienle ride away from the rest of the field and hold everyone off? How will Canadians Heather Wurtele and Sara Gross do? Can Andreas Raelert finally rise to the top? Will we see some surprises?
With such a competitive field, anything can happen.
We all have our opinions and our favourites, but we hope you will join the discussion at our Facebook page and tell us who you think will pull off the win.
Pro Men
| Pete | Jacobs |
| Bas | Diederen |
| Luke | Bell |
| Jimmy | Johnsen |
| Bevan | Docherty |
| Faris | Al-Sultan |
| Petr | Vabrousek |
| Brandon | Marsh |
| Ronnie | Schildknecht |
| Sebastian | Kienle |
| Matthew | Russell |
| Bert | Jammaer |
| Jan | Raphael |
| Axel | Zeebroek |
| Mike | Schifferle |
| Timo | Bracht |
| Per | Bittner |
| Dominik | Berger |
| Stefan | Schmid |
| Jordan | Rapp |
| Eneko | Llanos |
| Paul | Amey |
| David | Plese |
| David | Dellow |
| Ivan | Rana |
| Horst | Reichel |
| Daniel | Halksworth |
| Andi | Boecherer |
| Igor | Amorelli |
| Pedro | Gomes |
| Christian | Ritter |
| Andreas | Raelert |
| Maxim | Kriat |
| Cyril | Viennot |
| Ben | Hoffman |
| TJ | Tollakson |
| Tyler | Butterfield |
| Thomas | Gerlach |
| Marko | Albert |
| Dirk | Bockel |
| Balazs | Csoke |
| Luke | McKenzie |
| Craig | Alexander |
| Ian | Mikelson |
| Chris | Legh |
| Andrew | Starykowicz |
| Clayton | Fettell |
| Ben | Cotter |
| James | Cunnama |
| Frederik | Van Lierde |
| Tim | O’Donnell |
| Andy | Potts |
| Bart | Aernouts |
Pro Women
| Leanda | Cave |
| Mary Beth | Ellis |
| Caroline | Steffen |
| Gina | Crawford |
| Jodie | Swallow |
| Rebekah | Keat |
| Meredith | Kessler |
| Heather | Wurtele |
| Sonja | Tajsich |
| Mirinda | Carfrae |
| Liz | Blatchford |
| Natascha | Badmann |
| Linsey | Corbin |
| Amanda | Stevens |
| Britta | Martin |
| Yvonne | Van Vlerken |
| Michelle | Vesterby |
| Sofie | Goos |
| Jennie | Hansen |
| Mirjam | Weerd |
| Anja | Beranek |
| Caitlin | Snow |
| Jessie | Donavan |
| Kristin | Moeller |
| Eva | Nystrom |
| Elizabeth | Lyles |
| Mareen | Hufe |
| Anna | Ross |
| Rachel | Joyce |
| Amy | Marsh |
| Ashley | Clifford |
| Sara | Gross |
| Rebecca | Hoschke |
| Kim | Schwabenbauer |
| Haley | Chura |
There are a number of Canadian Age Groupers in the race. We will be sure to report on any podium performances.
Unfortunately, Cambridge’s Naomi Cermak, who earned a spot to race in the big show via the Kona Inspired contest, will not make it to Kona as she is still battling stage IV cancer.
This has not stopped Naomi from fighting to raise funds for her charity. She tweeted (@cermaknm) this on Monday:
“I’m missing Kona but I’m still pushing for my #konainspired charity. ~$1000 & then it’s $12000 for melanoma research https://goo.gl/4LnxSS”
Follow race week coverage here and on Ironman.com, culminating with live race day coverage on Saturday October 12 at 6 am Hawaii Standard Time (HST).