Ironman World Championships return to Hawaii as a one-day event from 2026

Hawaii will once again become the sole home of the Ironman World Championships as the organisation announced a one-day event will take place on the Big Island from next year onwards.

With both men and women racing together, this returns the race to the traditional format that was adopted from inception in 1978 to 2019, before the pandemic eventually led to a decision to split and alternate locations for the men’s and women’s races between Kona and Nice.

As part of the announcement, Nice has been named host location for the 2026 and 2028 Ironman 70.3 World Championships, which will continue in its successful two-day format that has been running since 2017.

The confirmation regarding the future of the Ironman World Championship puts an end to months of speculation, with Ironman canvassing thousands within the wider triathlon community to understand the prevailing sentiment and establish the best way forward.

The 2026 edition will feature a field size of close to 3,000 — a record for Hawaii — with qualification earned through spots at races around the world and initiatives such as Ironman’s legacy programme.

While the professional men and women will have an equal number of starting places, the slots will be awarded “mainly proportionately”, meaning more will be available to the most popular age categories. i.e. men 40-44. The field will not have an equal split of male and female qualifiers. 

Chief executive Scott DeRue described Kona as “the beating heart of triathlon” and said they are exploring innovative ways to reimagine the event, ensuring it remains a safe and fair competition with a broadcast worthy of a world championship. 

While details have not been finalised, this may include increasing the time gaps between the professional women starting and the age-group field, shuffling the order of start waves, and increasing the size of the age-group transition zone beyond the Kona pier.

What is happening with Nice?

While this year’s men’s Ironman World Championship will be the culmination of three years of full distance world championship racing on the French Riviera, the city will host the Ironman 70.3 world champs in 2026 and 2028, with a further option for 2030.

Next year’s races will be on September 12 and 13, following on from this year’s event in Marbella, Spain in November. The Côte d’Azur also played host to the 70.3 worlds in 2019.

Why has the decision been made?

Since Ironman moved to a two-day format away from Kona in 2023, there have been grumblings that the event risks losing its allure, 

With the men’s and women’s races separated by several weeks and time zones, and the logistics becoming more difficult and expensive for all parties, Ironman, with new CEO DeRue stepping in to replace the departing Andrew Messick, sought a reset.

While there were many suggestions for revised formats, in polling the community, Ironman says that the draw of Kona was by far the most powerful driver.

A two-day event in Kona (as per the 2022 format) was the preferred option, but has consistently been ruled out due to its impact on the local community in the small west coast resort. This remains the case despite the election of a new mayor, Kimo Alameda, last year.

The next most popular choice was a return to the one-day Kona race. Ironman reports that both age group participants (66% men, 58% women) and professionals (78% men, 69% women) favoured this over the existing format.

Hawaii’s popularity was also borne out in increased media interest and entry numbers, with the take up of World Championship slots having twice the demand of racing in Nice.

Ironman further highlighted that the two-day format did not lead to increased participation among women (giving women their own race day was a clear mandate of the initial change) and claimed that it actually resulted in more athletes leaving the sport after completing the Ironman World Championship.

“Over the past year, we have listened to our community, engaged thousands of athletes from around the world, and learned a great deal about what our athletes aspire to, what they need and want, and ultimately how we can evolve the Ironman World Championship to best serve our athletes and the future growth of the sport,” said DeRue. 

“When it comes to the most important race on the triathlon calendar, we owe it to our community to listen to their feedback, to have the courage to try new things, and to make principled decisions that serve the long-term interests of the sport. 

“While there is no shortage of ideas when it comes to the future of the Ironman World Championship, one thing is clear: a significant majority of women and men want the same two things — to race together, and do that at the beating heart of our sport in Kona, Hawaii.”