Ironman launches new world championships qualifying system

If you’re planning to race for a Kona or 70.3 World Champs slot in the future, you’ll want to pay attention because Ironman is revamping the way age-groupers qualify for the World Championships.

For 2026 qualifying (which starts at the weekend for 70.3 and in August for full distance events) Ironman is moving away from a system based on how many people toe the line in your age group, and towards a new, performance-based model.

Rather than just competing against others in your age group, you’ll effectively be racing everyone. And yes, that means your actual finishing time will count more than ever.

The old system: A quick recap

Until now, every Ironman and 70.3 race was given a set number of World Championship qualifying slots. These were then split up among age groups depending on how many people were racing in each one. So, a category like Men’s 40–44 might have five slots, while Women’s 60–64 had only one, just because fewer women in that age group entered.

Winners would automatically get a slot, and if they declined it, it would roll down to the next fastest finisher – sometimes going pretty far down the rankings if others didn’t take it.

What’s changing for 2026?

1. Only one guaranteed slot per age group
At every race, each age group winner will get a guaranteed World Championship slot. If they say no, it can roll down to second or third place – but that’s it. If none of the top three want it, the slot goes back in the pot, known as the Performance Pool.

This change removes the link between age group popularity and number of slots. No matter how many people are in your group, only one slot is guaranteed.

2. Performance Pool: Race everyone, not just your age group

Once the age group winners have taken their spots, the rest of the slots from that race are handed out based on age-graded performance. This is where things get clever.

Rather than just looking at raw finish times, Ironman uses a multiplier (based on past race results from Kona and 70.3 Worlds) to adjust your time based on your age and gender. This gives you a standardised score that puts everyone on a more even playing field.

The goal? To reward the best performances across the board, not just the biggest age groups.

A quick example

Let’s say Anne is 42 and finishes Ironman Kalmar in 9:19:51. Based on her age and gender, her adjusted (or “age-graded”) time is 8:07:26.

John, who is 43, finishes in 8:50:31, but his age-graded time is 8:33:42.

Even though John had a faster raw finish, Anne’s performance was stronger for her age and gender – so she ranks higher in the Performance Pool.

These adjusted times are calculated using a set table – based on the average times of the top 20% in each age group at the World Championships over the last five years.

So what does this actually mean for you?

You still need to race hard – but now your actual time matters more, especially if you’re not winning your age group.

Big age groups no longer dominate the slot count just because they have more people. Instead, Ironman believes it will be fairer for highly competitive athletes who might’ve missed out under the old numbers-based system.

How many slots are available?

Kona, which will revert to one day of competition from 2026, will host between 2,500-3,000 athletes total – including Legacy entries, charity slots, and Ironman Xclusive (formerly Executive Challenge). 

The Ironman 70.3 World Championship will continue to change locations as two days of racing, and men and women having their own individual events. The total number isn’t changing drastically, but how they’re allocated is.

There are no changes for professional athletes, who still qualify the same way – racing for fixed slots per gender at events. Pro slots will remain equal for men and women.

Why the change?

The old system was simple, but a bigger age group meant more slots, even if it wasn’t particularly competitive.

This new model aims to reward actual performance, not just participation levels. It may also bring more balance between genders, since a report from charity Women in Tri UK suggests that women tend to perform better on average compared to their participation numbers.

Is it too complicated?

It sounds it – but it’s actually just one sum: your finish time multiplied by your category’s performance factor. Age-graded scoring already exists in running and cycling, so many athletes will be familiar with it.

More importantly, once results are in, you’ll be able to see right away if you’ve got a slot.

What happens next?

The system kicks off on 6 July 2024 for 70.3s and 16 August 2024 for full Ironman races – all for qualification to the 2026 World Championships.

Ironman has also created an advisory group of age-group athletes to monitor how the new system performs.

For more on how the age-graded system works, visit Ironman.com