We’re getting closer to the first cutoff for Kona qualification, so I think this is a good time to have a closer look at the KPR standings. This is the first of two posts. This one looks at the women, the next one will look at the men. (I’ll probably post that one tomorrow.)
The exact number of points that is required for a Kona slot is not easy to determine as there are 27 slots at the end of July and another 8 slots at the end of August. (This number has changed in the 2013 season which makes quoting a number even trickier.) In my 2012 Rating Report (available from the sidebar on the right) I have determined that 4.750 points can be considered a safe number for qualification.
Who’s in
Athletes who have won Kona in the last five years just have to race another Ironman to qualify. With Chrissie retired, the other two winners have already validated their slots:
- Leanda Cave (11.290 points)
- Mirinda Carfrae (6.320 points)
As noted above, I consider athletes with at least 4.750 points as safe qualifiers. There are quite a few established athletes who took care of their Kona slots early in the qualifying period:
- Carolin Steffen (9.720 points)
- Meredith Kessler (7.540 points)
- Gina Crawford (7.260 points)
- Sonja Tajsich (7.065 points)
- Mary Beth Ellis (7.000 points)
- Natasche Badmann (6.460 points)
- Michelle Vesterby (5.910 points)
- Linsey Corbin (5.665 points)
- Amanda Stevens (5.465 points)
- Rachel Joyce (5.190 points)
We also have some athletes who haven’t raced Kona 2012 that have a safe spot:
- Yvonne van Vlercken (6.165 points)
- Corinne Abraham (6.010 points)
- Jessie Donavan (5.450 points)
Who’s close to qualifying
- Heather Wurtele (5.100 points – plans to race Coeur d’Alene in June)
- Kelly Williamson (5.100 points – doesn’t have any Ironman plans for this year)
Another group of Kona 2012 athletes is close to my cutoff and should be able to make it with a few more points from 70.3 races:
- Amy Marsh (4.510 points – struggled a bit in Texas, but validated; now she just needs a few hundred points from another 70.3)
- Rebekah Keat (4.160 points – already validated and can add two more 70.3 results)
- Britta Martin (4.350 points)
- Rebecca Hoschke (4.150 points)
- Jodie Swallow (3.650 points)
- Ashley Clifford (3.510 points)
Who needs more points
At this “early” point in the season, a lot of established athletes haven’t yet raced their “main” qualifying race. (The Northern hemisphere season is just getting started.) From the Kona Top10, only one athlete hasn’t been mentioned yet:
- Caitlin Snow (3.480 points – was injured and had to skip IM Texas, but is now looking forward to race Couer d’Alene)
In addition, here are some Kona 2012 athletes that have already raced an Ironman and validated, but still need quite a few more points:
- Mareen Hufe (3.200 points – already has three IMs in points – plans to race Frankfurt)
- Kristin Möller (1.800 points – even after winning Lanzarote, she has to do a “big points race” to make it to Kona – probably racing Frankfurt)