KAILUA-KONA — An elite field of the world’s best professional male triathletes, including four former Ironman World Champions, will assemble in Kona town for the men’s edition of the 2024 VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon. On Saturday, October 26, both the professional and age-group men will contest for their respective Ironman World Championship titles on the much-revered Kona course.
“After a fantastic women’s race in Nice, France in September, we are looking forward to a great day of racing in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i as the top male triathletes from around the world take center stage,” The Ironman Group CEO Scott DeRue said. “This year’s men’s professional race is shaping up to be a tremendous competition with multiple Ironman World Champions and many of the biggest names in the sport. As a true clash of the titans, we are expecting some unforgettable performances at the 2024 VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon that will be fun for all to watch unfold.”
The iconic VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon will bring together over 50 of the world’s top professional male triathletes to compete for the coveted title of Ironman World Champion, 6,000 Ironman Pro Series™ points, as well as a piece of the $375,000 professional prize purse, with the winner taking home $125,000.
Live race day coverage of the men’s 2024 VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon will be broadcast for free across multiple platforms for global viewers including proseries.Ironman.com, DAZN, and YouTube, as well as Outside TV in the U.S. and Canada, L’Équipe in France, ZDF in Germany among others.
As the reigning Ironman World Champion, Sam Laidlow (FRA) will wear bib number one for the first time. Laidlow, who enjoyed a home victory in Nice, France last year, will return to the Island of Hawai`i after finishing second in 2022, when he secured the bike course best with a time of 4:04:36. Laidlow will be determined to ensure that history does not repeat itself again in Kona after he was overtaken in the latter stages of the race by Norway’s Gustav Iden, who stormed home to a maiden Ironman World Championship victory.
Iden, who is also a two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion (2019, 2021), has not raced a full-distance triathlon since his 2022 victory in Kona due to injury. After initially struggling to rediscover the form that saw him claim three world titles in four years, Iden has started to show signs over the past few months of the threat his competitors know he can pose, including a fourth-place finish at the Ironman 70.3 Warsaw triathlon, and a win and second across two other middle-distance races.
Fellow Norwegian and 2021 Ironman World Champion, Kristian Blummenfelt will also return to Kailua-Kona after finishing third in 2022. Despite dedicating his year to short-course triathlon in a quest for back-to-back Olympic Gold Medals, Blummenfelt showed he is truly a jack of all triathlon trades when he secured a runaway victory at the Mainova Ironman European Championship Frankfurt triathlon less than two weeks after the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Patrick Lange (DEU) will be on the hunt for a third Ironman World Championship title. The German has finished on the podium four out of the six times he has raced triathlon’s pinnacle event and holds the Ironman World Championship run course best time of 2:32:41, which he set in Nice last year on his way to finishing second. Hoping to once again peak for the biggest race of the year, Lange has a solid season behind him already with victory at the Memorial Hermann Ironman North American Championship Texas, and he currently sits fourth in the Ironman Pro Series men’s standings.
The four Ironman World Champions will face fierce competition from multiple challengers hoping to secure the crown for themselves, including Magnus Ditlev (DNK), Rudy Von Berg (USA), and Léon Chevalier (FRA) who finished in the top five at last year’s VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon in Nice. Matt Burton (AUS), the 2024 Ironman Asia-Pacific Champion, Rasmus Svenningson (SWE), the 2024 Ironman African Champion, and Lionel Sanders (CAN) and Trevor Foley (USA), who both boast an Ironman triathlon and two Ironman 70.3 triathlon victories this year will also provide strong threats to the packed field.
The inaugural Ironman Pro Series adds another layer of excitement and competition to the VinFast Ironman World Championship event this year. The men’s VinFast Ironman World Championship race in Kona offers a maximum of 6,000 points to the winner, 1,000 more points than the other full-distance Ironman triathlons in the series. Eight out of the top 10 professional athletes in the men’s standings, including everyone in the top five will also battle it out for series points and a piece of the end of year bonus prize money.
Matt Hanson (USA), who currently sits atop of the Ironman Pro Series standings thanks to his fast, consistent racing so far this season will line up once again in Kona. Since becoming a professional athlete in 2014, Hanson has been on the start line of six Ironman World Championship races, with his best position being a 13th place finish in 2022.
Arnaud Guilloux (FRA), second in the Ironman Pro Series standings, has had a solid season so far, marked by two fourth place finishes at the Athletic Brewing Ironman Lake Placid triathlon and the Cairns Airport Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns triathlon. Guilloux’s top performance at the Ironman World Championship came last year when he finished 12th at the VinFast Ironman World Championship in Nice.
Jackson Laundry, the Ironman 70.3 triathlon specialist who currently sits behind Guilloux in third place in the standings, will be making his VinFast Ironman World Championship debut in a bid to boost his points further. Solid performances at the 2024 Athletic Brewing Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Chattanooga triathlons suggest Laundry is ready to capitalize at full-distance racing.
Other athletes in the top 10 of the Ironman Pro Series standings looking to make a mark in Kona include Bradley Weiss (ZAF), Chris Leiferman (USA), Robert Kallin (SWE), and Matthew Marquardt (USA).
Beginning in the crystal-clear waters of Kailua Bay, athletes taking part in the 2024 VinFast Ironman World Championship triathlon will tackle the 2.4-mile (3.8km) ROKA swim course before heading out on the 112-mile (180.2km) FulGaz™ bike course, renowned for its historic long sustained climbs, strong crosswinds, and exposed terrain beauty with lava fields on one side and the ocean coastline on the other. The final leg of the race sees athletes take on the 26.2-mile (42.2km) HOKA run course, an out-and-back that takes athletes past the spirited crowds on Ali`i Drive, up Palani Road to the Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway which leads them to the long-awaited HOST Park at the National Energy Laboratory Hawai`i Authority (NELHA). Athletes will complete their journey to the roar of thousands of spectators as they cross the historic Ali`i Drive finish line.
See the paper in the coming weeks for more Ironman coverage.
