Update (June 22nd): Asa Lundstroem announced that she is focused on qualifying for Kona and won’t be able to start in Motala. There are also rumors that because of low water temperatures the swim will be shortened or changed to a run.
Update (June 23rd): There have been a few changes to the start list. Most notably, Camilla Pedersen is now defending her title from last year.
The ITU Long Distance World Championships are contested over the “Nice Distance” of 4k swim, 120k bike and 30k run. It’s an interesting distance that puts some more weight on swimming and while it is obviously longer than the “middle distance” of half-IMs it does not require the prolonged recovery of a full distance Ironman race. (The Ratings shown in the start lists below are based on Ironman distance races, they are only an indication of each athlete’s capabilities and not a prediction of their time on the course.)
Winning the race is quite prestigious, and the event has always attracted a few big names. Some recent winners on the male side are Tim O’Donnell (2009), Jordan Rapp (2011), Chris McCormack (2012) and Bertrand Billard (2013 and 2014). Some women’s winners are Leanda Cave (2008), Chrissie Wellington (2009), Carolin Steffen (2010 and 2012), Rachel Joyce (2011), Melissa Hauschildt (2013) and Camilla Pedersen (2014).
This year’s event is held in Motala, Sweden, celebrating the 50th anniversary of 300km Vätternrundan, the biggest recreational bike ride worldwide (roughly 18.000 finishers per year).
Male Race Participants
| Rank | Name | Nation | Expected Time | Rating | Swim Rating | Bike Rating | Run Rating | Overall |
| 1 | Dirk Bockel | LUX | n/a | 08:21:49 | 00:47:03 | 04:33:05 | 02:58:48 | 4 |
| 2 | Ronnie Schildknecht | SUI | n/a | 08:27:12 | 00:51:27 | 04:37:30 | 02:55:07 | 12 |
| 3 | Cyril Viennot | FRA | n/a | 08:33:18 | 00:50:48 | 04:40:56 | 02:57:29 | 28 |
| 4 | Rasmus Henning | DEN | n/a | 08:33:32 | 00:47:21 | 04:38:13 | 03:04:28 | (29) |
| 5 | Martin Jensen | DEN | n/a | 08:33:58 | 00:48:23 | 04:38:15 | 02:55:14 | (30) |
| 6 | Joe Gambles | AUS | n/a | 08:40:06 | 00:48:35 | 04:44:27 | 03:03:45 | 49 |
| 7 | Patrik Nilsson | SWE | n/a | 08:40:33 | 00:48:43 | 04:41:57 | 03:03:18 | 52 |
| 8 | Joe Skipper | GBR | n/a | 08:43:20 | 00:53:18 | 04:41:44 | 02:57:44 | 58 |
| 9 | Henrik Hyldelund | DEN | n/a | 08:46:01 | 00:47:39 | 04:38:03 | 03:11:03 | 65 |
| 10 | Andrej Vistica | CRO | n/a | 08:46:44 | 00:52:46 | 04:42:53 | 03:01:40 | 68 |
| 11 | Filip Ospaly | CZE | n/a | 08:47:06 | 00:47:02 | 04:53:13 | 03:03:34 | 72 |
| 12 | Jarmo Hast | FIN | n/a | 08:47:27 | 00:50:32 | 04:52:38 | 03:01:18 | 75 |
| 13 | Peter Robertson | AUS | n/a | 08:53:49 | 00:47:56 | 04:47:16 | 03:05:51 | (98) |
| 14 | Alberto Casadei | ITA | n/a | 08:57:55 | 00:47:33 | 04:55:31 | 03:02:43 | 119 |
| 15 | Andrey Lyatskiy | RUS | n/a | 08:59:26 | 00:48:29 | 04:55:55 | 03:12:00 | 123 |
| 16 | Pontus Lindberg | SWE | n/a | 09:00:08 | 00:53:14 | 04:53:58 | 03:04:25 | 129 |
| 17 | David Naesvik | SWE | n/a | 09:07:25 | 00:54:37 | 04:48:33 | 03:15:05 | 154 |
| 19 | Tohara Kaito | JPN | n/a | 09:13:38 | 00:54:19 | 05:07:19 | 03:01:49 | 184 |
| 20 | Andreas Niedrig | GER | n/a | 09:15:38 | 00:47:36 | 04:49:38 | 03:36:30 | 192 |
| 21 | Kuniaki Takahama | JPN | n/a | 09:16:01 | 00:48:27 | 05:16:41 | 02:58:35 | (193) |
| 23 | Karl-Johan Danielsson | SWE | n/a | 09:20:24 | 00:49:21 | 04:52:05 | 03:30:16 | 215 |
| Gustavo Rodriguez | ESP | n/a | 09:25:37 | 00:53:22 | 04:57:51 | 03:18:03 | (243) | |
| 24 | Fredrik Carlen | SWE | n/a | 09:33:09 | 00:54:07 | 04:58:36 | 03:25:16 | (267) |
| 25 | Georgy Kaurov | RUS | n/a | 09:33:14 | 00:49:42 | 04:57:10 | 03:23:57 | (267) |
| 27 | Eddy Lamers | NED | n/a | 10:05:25 | 00:51:47 | 04:55:04 | 03:56:30 | (378) |
| 28 | Evgeniy Nikitin | RUS | n/a | 10:19:03 | 00:51:31 | 05:15:52 | 03:59:06 | 417 |
| 29 | Ruedi Wild | SUI | n/a | 10:56:00 | 00:48:54 | 04:47:12 | 04:47:47 | (458) |
| 30 | Aleksandr Kocetkov | LTU | n/a | 11:09:43 | 01:07:45 | 05:40:09 | 03:53:54 | (463) |
| 31 | Diederik Scheltinga | NED | n/a | 11:43:33 | 00:52:16 | 05:26:42 | 04:54:56 | (465) |
| Josh Amberger | AUS | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Juan Manuel Asconape | ARG | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Sam Betten | AUS | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| George Bjalkemo | SWE | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Alexey Brylev | RUS | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Jose Estrangeiro | PRT | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Hector Fonseca | CRC | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Kim Harju | FIN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Joel Jokinen | FIN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Ken Koike | JPN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Daniel Mugica Corrales | ESP | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Attila Szabó | HUN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Nikolay Yaroshenko | RUS | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) |
Female Race Participants
| Rank | Name | Nation | Expected Time | Rating | Swim Rating | Bike Rating | Run Rating | Overall |
| 1 | Mary Beth Ellis | USA | n/a | 09:17:08 | 00:50:41 | 05:07:00 | 03:15:37 | 7 |
| Camilla Pedersen | DEN | n/a | 09:24:46 | 00:51:00 | 05:06:40 | 03:18:23 | 19 | |
| 3 | Eva Nystroem | SWE | n/a | 09:43:22 | 01:03:35 | 05:11:40 | 03:23:53 | (49) |
| 4 | Ariane Monticeli | BRA | n/a | 09:53:18 | 01:02:59 | 05:29:19 | 03:13:41 | 70 |
| 5 | Camilla Lindholm | SWE | n/a | 10:07:08 | 01:10:01 | 05:22:31 | 03:22:10 | 99 |
| Gurutze Frades Larralde | ESP | n/a | 10:13:14 | 01:02:51 | 05:37:42 | 03:19:08 | (111) | |
| 6 | Lena Holmgren | SWE | n/a | 10:13:53 | 01:06:07 | 05:29:07 | 03:21:23 | (111) |
| 7 | Emma Graaf | SWE | n/a | 10:19:00 | 00:59:24 | 05:27:51 | 03:41:13 | 126 |
| 8 | Maki Nishiuchi | JPN | n/a | 10:23:56 | 00:53:42 | 05:36:48 | 03:47:54 | 138 |
| Amy Forshaw | GBR | n/a | 10:30:08 | 01:03:27 | 05:39:24 | 03:33:22 | 150 | |
| Vanessa Pereira | POR | n/a | 10:44:57 | 01:02:41 | 05:43:14 | 03:45:26 | 161 | |
| 9 | Venla Koivula | FIN | n/a | 11:14:56 | 01:00:38 | 05:32:24 | 04:15:48 | (165) |
| Ewa Bugdol | POL | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Kaisa Lehtonen | FIN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Hanna Maksimova | BLR | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Chino Nishimura | JPN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Mauren Solano | CRC | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) | |
| Annie Thoren | SWE | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | (n/a) |
Winning Odds
Male Race Participants
Based on the Ironman-distance results, Dirk Bockel is a step above the rest of the field. I hope that he has recovered from the injuries that he was dealing with in the last years – too often he had one good result and then had to take some time off. He is challenged by a long list of European athletes such as Henrik Hyldelund (last year’s winner of IM Copenhagen), Patrik Nilsson (winner of IM Malaysia), Joe Skipper (having just delivered a fantastic race at IM Texas) and Martin Jensen (hopefully recovered from his injury after Challenge Dubai) and legends such as Ronnie Schildknecht or Rasmus Henning. Australia is represented Joe Gambles, Peter Robertson and Josh Amberger. If all these athletes actually start, it’ll be a very interesting race!
- Dirk Bockel: 34% (2-1)
- Henrik Hyldelund: 12% (7-1)
- Patrik Nilsson: 12% (7-1)
- Ronnie Schildknecht: 10% (9-1)
- Joe Gambles: 7% (13-1)
- Cyril Viennot: 7% (13-1)
- Rasmus Henning: 7% (14-1)
- Joe Skipper: 5% (18-1)
- Martin Jensen: 3% (37-1)
Female Race Participants
Mary Beth Ellis is the clear favorite – it’ll be interesting to see if she’ll actually start and what form she’ll be in after her recent switch back to Brett Sutton coaching. Behind MBE, there are a number of Swedish athletes that would love to keep the title in their home country. Ariane Monticelli is the only notable non-European athlete in the field (other than MBE).
- Mary Beth Ellis: 70% (1-1)
Asa Lundstroem: 18% (4-1)- Ariane Monticeli: 5% (19-1)
- Eva Nystroem: 4% (24-1)
- Camilla Lindholm: 2% (50-1)