Ironman returning to men, women competing for world titles on same day in Kona, beginning in 2026

Starting in 2026, the Ironman World Championship will once again have women and men competing on the same day, and in the same place — its home in Kona since 1981.

“This was not a decision that was made willy nilly,” Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda said Wednesday morning.

For the past two Ironman World Championships, and for the 2025 version coming up this fall, the women and men compete in the grueling 140.6-mile run, bike and swim triathlon at separate locations, alternating between Kona and Nice, France.

This is due to the Kona community blowback from the 2022 event, when a record 5,200 athletes qualified for the World Championship due to deferrals caused by the COVID pandemic and canceled or relocated races.

To accommodate the large number of athletes, about double the normal number of 2,500, Ironman organizers — for the first time in its 45-year history — split the championship into two days, on Thursday and the traditional Saturday.

This new format taxed the community, with many locals upset with the weekday road closures, and several downtown businesses unable to open on that Thursday due to the large crowds and lack of parking.

When Ironman announced it would do the same two-day format for the 2023 World Championship, some in the community loudly voiced their concerns. It led to Ironman changing its format again to the alternating location by gender.

Ironman organizers also hoped this change in format would enable the women to have more of the limelight, and increase the number of women competing in Ironman. But the number of women did not go up, according to Ironman CEO Scott DeRue.

And, Ironman organizers said they have learned through surveys and other research that the majority of athletes would like the championship to go back to the original format and always be held in Kona.

Ironman has been polling athletes since 2022 to get their thoughts on the race format. After the race last year, more than 10,000 athletes were surveyed with the majority of them voicing the desire to return to a single-day race with men and women sharing the field, Bertsch said.

Ironman organizers also have been hosting community talk story events to discuss Ironman’s place in Kona, Ironman officials said.

While France has been a good spot for the Ironman World Championship, Diana Bertsch, senior vice president of world championship events for The Ironman Group, said it’s not the true home of the iconic race.

At an exclusive announcement with community members and leaders at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort, the site of the championship’s start and finish, Bertsch said: “It’s time to celebrate and embrace what we have here. There’s nothing like the magic of Kona.”

Alameda said community members involved with the race were involved in discussions about having women and men compete together again in Kona, but the consensus was that it had to be only a one day event.

“The two-day event won’t happen again,” Alameda said. 

Alameda thinks the Kona community can handle a single race day. He said Ironman continues to get better in streamlining the event, making things easier for participants and volunteers. He said they have become better at informing athletes the best protocol for training in Kona’s public pool and roads before the race.

While DeRue said in a letter on the Ironman website that there are 3,000 slots for competitors at the 2026 World Championship in Kona, Bertsch said the exact number has not been determined, but she expects it to be less.

Local Ironman athlete Skye Ombac said from a spectator’s perspective, she likes seeing men and women race in the same place because you get to see both world champions crowned.

As an athlete, Ombac is worried that with less participants, women will get fewer spots.

DeRue joined Wednesday morning’s event virtually, saying he was humbled by the support from the community: “The Aloha spirit is woven through the culture of Ironman around the world. Pros and age groupers from around the world share the common desire to race in Kona together.”

Alameda said: “It’s not just a big event for the Big Island. It’s a world-class event. It’s been our trademark, especially for this side of the island.”

Hawai‘i County Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas, who represents the Kona community, said when Ironman raced on two separate days in Kona, it was problematic and the racing organization listened.

“They’ve been willing to adapt to align with the community,” she said on Wednesday.

This will be the last year of the split format, with the women competing in Kona on Oct. 11 and the men racing in Nice, France, on Sept. 14.