Ironman races in Europe fill as Ironman rookies flock to events

Things are looking up for Ironman over in Europe – the brand new Ironman 70.3 races in Venice-Jesolo, Italy, and Cork, Ireland have sold out and the company reports that events in “10 different European countries” between May and September, 2021 have sold out as well.

Great Britain leads the way with 15,000 athletes, followed by Germany with over 10,000. Of the registered competitors, there are 33,000 who will be competing in their first Ironman or Ironman 70.3 race next year.

“It goes without question that this has been a difficult year for everyone in the industry and the sport of triathlon. We can’t thank our athletes enough for their commitment to our races and their belief, that during the course of 2021 we will all come back stronger from these unprecedented times,” said Stefan Petschnig, Managing Director for The Ironman Group in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

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In Europe the company has been able to put on races in France (Ironman 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne-Vendee), Estonia (Ironman and Ironman 70.3 Talinn) and Poland (Ironman 70.3 Gdynia). The company also owns the Hamburg World Triathlon Series race which hosted a pro-only world championship in September.

Here in North America there are a number of full-distance and 70.3 events slated for 2020, including Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast ironmanand Ironman Florida this weekend. Other events still scheduled to take place include Ironman 70.3 Texas, Ironman Arizona and Ironman Cozumel on November 22, and Ironman 70.3 Florida on December 13.

Here’s a list of the sold-out events in Europe next summer:

• Ironman 70.3 Venice-Jesolo, May 2, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Switzerland Rapperswil-Jona, June 6, 2021
• Ironman France Nice, June 13, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire, June 13, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg – Région Moselle, June 20, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne-Vendée, July 4, 2021
• Ironman Austria-Kaernten, July 4, 2021
• Ironman UK, July 4, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Jönköping, July 11, 2021
• Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz, July 11, 2021
• Ironman Switzerland Thun, July 11, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Ireland Cork, August 14, 2021
• Ironman Ireland Cork, August 15, 2021
• Ironman 70.3 Duisburg, August 29, 2021
• Ironman Italy Emilia-Romagna, September 18, 2021