It’s official: Ironman World Championship rescheduled to Feb. 5, 2022

We reported on the rumours that Ironman would be postponing the world championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii yesterday – now we can confirm that the race won’t be held until Feb. 5, 2022 “based on continuing COVID-19-related impact to Island of Hawaii.”

Ironman is now expecting that there will be two editions of the event in 2022 – February and October. That won’t be the first time the race took place twice in the same year – in 1982 the race was also held in February and October. The February race was the scene of Julie Moss’ famous crawl to the finish line that many say helped launch the sport of triathlon.

“The resurgence of the virus and new Delta strain has had significant impact on the island community of Hawai`i. Combined with substantial border closures and travel restrictions for qualified athletes, there is not a viable pathway in October to host the IRONMAN World Championship,” Andrew Messick, President and Chief Executive Officer for The Ironman Group said in a statment today. “After extensive consultation with governmental and community leaders in Hawai`i, we believe that the best course of action is to delay the event until February of 2022.”

According to today’s statement athletes who have qualified for this year’s race in Kona will be contacted directly and “there are no material changes in qualifying for professional or age-group athletes for the 2022 Ironman World Championship.”