What you need to know about this weekend’s Ironman Cozumel
Popular race in Mexico has once again attracted a competitive pro field
A popular year-end event for many in North America, Ironman Cozumel is renowned as a destination event in Mexico that features some fast, flat racing along with the opportunity to enjoy a warm-weather getaway for athletes and their families. The pro race is also typically very exciting, as some of the sport’s top athletes use the race as a chance to round out the race season with either some prize money or a valuable qualifying slot for the world championship the following year.
Kienle retires
Sebastian Kienle might not be the top-ranked athlete on the pro men’s list, but all eyes will be the German star as Ironman Cozumel will be his final pro race.
Sebastian Kienle calls it a career and raffles off “Discontinued” bike for World Bicycle Relief
France’s Leon Chevalier, who took the Ironman Africa title and was fifth at Nice, will wear race #1 in Cozumel, but he’ll face some speedy competition. His countryman, Denis Chevrot, who flew through a 2:31:38 marathon to win Ironman Hamburg this year, is hoping to get across the line in one piece in Cozumel after DNFs at both the world championship in Nice and Ironman Florida. Poland’s Robert Wilkowiecki, the runner up at Ironman Texas, is also one to watch in Cozumel. The potential podium contenders continues with Ironman champions like Chris Leiferman (USA), Cody Beals (CAN), and Michael Weiss (AUT). (Ironman champs Jesper Svennson and Cam Wurf are on the start list, but raced in Florida a few weeks ago, so we’re not expecting them to compete in Mexico.)
Frades back to defend title
She hasn’t raced much in 2023 (three times), but she’s been on the podium every time she has – Gurutze Frades followed up her win in Cozumel last year with the Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz in her home country of Spain, and also has third-place finishes at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championship and Ironman 70.3 Cozumel in 2023.
Others in the women’s field to watch for the win include Ironman champs Ruth Astle (GBR) and Germany’s Svenja Thoes. Other podium contenders include Dutch athletes Diede Diederiks and Marle de Boer, along with Japan’s Ai Ueda. 2022 Ultraman world champ Dede Griesbauer is also racing – the 53-year-old continues to impress us all.
You can see the full pro list here.
Live tracking
There’s no live coverage of the race this weekend, but you will be able follow the race using the Ironman Tracker.
Age Group stars
Canadian John Wragg will be looking to add to his world-record number of full-distance races (he’s at over 270!), while his partner Elizabeth Model will also be looking forward to hearing race announcer Tony Lugo call her across the line.
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The Course
The day begins with a spectacular swim that starts at Chankanaab Park, then goes down current to the Marina Fonatur.
That’s followed by a three-loop bike course that takes athletes around the island. The course is pretty much completely flat, but there can be some stiff winds to slow things down.
The day rounds out with a three-lap run that, once again is very flat, but thanks to the heat and humidity can get quite challenging.
We’ll look to recap the days events on Sunday after the race.
