Pro Athletes Qualified for Kona 2021
After being forced to cancel the Kona 2020 race, Ironman has moved the athletes qualified for 2020 to the 2021 race. They have also lifted the validation requirement for the Automatic qualifiers.
For details on Kona Pro Qualifying, check out my post explaining the elements of the system (even if the rules are suspended for the 2021 season to allow for flexible reactions to race cancellations). If you’re looking for the 2019 Kona qualifiers, check out this page.
(Note: You can sort the tables below by clicking on the column headers.)
Females Qualified for Kona
| # | Name | Nation | Race | Date | Slot Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carfrae, Mirinda | AUS | IM Hawaii | 2014-10-11 | Champion |
| 2 | Ryf, Daniela | SUI | IM Hawaii | 2018-10-13 | Champion, 70.3 |
| 3 | Corbin, Linsey | USA | IM Wisconsin | 2019-09-08 | Race |
| 4 | Mitchell, Simone | GBR | IM Wales | 2019-09-15 | Race |
| 5 | Lehrieder, Carolin | GER | IM Italy | 2019-09-21 | Race |
| 6 | Naeth, Angela | CAN | IM Chattanooga | 2019-09-29 | Race |
| 7 | Svensk, Sara | SWE | IM Barcelona | 2019-10-06 | Race |
| 8 | Haug, Anne | GER | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Champion |
| 9 | Charles-Barclay, Lucy | GBR | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Kona Podium |
| 10 | Crowley, Sarah | AUS | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Kona Podium |
| 11 | Kortekaas, Tessa | NED | IM Malaysia | 2019-10-26 | Race |
| 12 | Jackson, Heather | USA | IM Arizona | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 13 | Kessler, Meredith | USA | IM Arizona | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 14 | Lester, Carrie | AUS | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 15 | Stage Nielsen, Maja | DEN | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 16 | Vesterby, Michelle | DEN | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 17 | Adam, Teresa | NZL | IM Western Australia | 2019-12-01 | Race |
| 18 | Piampiano, Sarah | USA | IM Western Australia | 2019-12-01 | Race |
| 19 | Corachan Vaquera, Judith | ESP | IM New Zealand | 2020-03-07 | Race |
| 20 | McBride, Rach | CAN | IM New Zealand | 2020-03-07 | Race |
| 21 | Watkinson, Amelia | NZL | IM Cairns | 2020-09-27 | Race |
| 22 | Astle, Ruth | GBR | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 23 | Matthews, Katrina | GBR | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 24 | Moench, Skye | USA | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 25 | Wells, Hannah | NZL | IM New Zealand | 2021-03-27 | Race |
Males Qualified for Kona
| # | Name | Nation | Race | Date | Slot Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lange, Patrick | GER | IM Hawaii | 2018-10-13 | Champion |
| 2 | Aguayo Munoz, Emilio | ESP | IM Wisconsin | 2019-09-08 | Race |
| 3 | Iden, Gustav | NOR | 70.3 World Championship | 2019-09-08 | 70.3 |
| 4 | Guilloux, Arnaud | FRA | IM Wales | 2019-09-15 | Race |
| 5 | Wurf, Cameron | AUS | IM Italy | 2019-09-21 | Race |
| 6 | Long, Sam | USA | IM Chattanooga | 2019-09-29 | Race |
| 7 | Angert, Florian | GER | IM Barcelona | 2019-10-06 | Race |
| 8 | Frodeno, Jan | GER | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Champion |
| 9 | Kienle, Sebastian | GER | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Kona Podium |
| 10 | O’Donnell, Timothy | USA | IM Hawaii | 2019-10-12 | Kona Podium |
| 11 | Gomez, Javier | ESP | IM Malaysia | 2019-10-26 | Race |
| 12 | Hoffman, Ben | USA | IM Florida | 2019-11-02 | Race |
| 13 | Skipper, Joe | GBR | IM Florida | 2019-11-02 | Race |
| 14 | Butterfield, Tyler | BMU | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 15 | De Elias, Mario | ARG | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 16 | Weiss, Michael | AUT | IM Cozumel | 2019-11-24 | Race |
| 17 | Brownlee, Alistair | GBR | IM Western Australia | 2019-12-01 | Race |
| 18 | Burton, Matt | AUS | IM Western Australia | 2019-12-01 | Race |
| 19 | Currie, Braden | NZL | IM New Zealand | 2020-03-07 | Race |
| 20 | Phillips, Mike | NZL | IM New Zealand | 2020-03-07 | Race |
| 21 | Neumann, Max | AUS | IM Cairns | 2020-09-27 | Race |
| 22 | Dreitz, Andreas | GER | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 23 | Hanson, Matt | USA | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 24 | Leiferman, Chris | USA | IM Florida | 2020-11-07 | Race |
| 25 | Smith, Kyle | NZL | IM New Zealand | 2021-03-27 | Race |
Athletes who Declined Their Slot
| # | Name | Nation | Race | Date | Slot Type |
|---|
Explanation of Slot Types
Here are some more details on the different slot types:
- Champion
Kona Winners receive a slot for the next five years. This slot has to be verified by finishing at least one Ironman outside of Kona. If an athlete has not validated his/her champion slot, “(NV)” is added. (The date shown is the date of the most recent win.) - Kona Podium
Second- and third-place finishers in Kona receive a slot for next year’s Kona race. This slot has to be verified by finishing at least one Ironman outside of Kona. If an athlete has not validated his/her Kona Podium slot, “(NV)” is added. - 70.3
The winners of the 70.3 Championships receive a slot for next year’s Kona race. This slot has to be verified by finishing at least one Ironman outside of Kona. If an athlete has not validated his/her 70.3 slot, “(NV)” is added. - Race
This is the “normal” way of qualifying by winning or finishing close to the front in an Ironman race. There is no additional validation requirement for this type of slot. - Will Not Start
Athletes who have received a slot but have indicated that they won’t race Kona. Reasons could be different plans or injuries. According to the rules by Ironman, these slots won’t be reassigned to another athlete. The names will also be crossed out. - Declined
Athletes who declined a slot they earned in one of the qualifying races. It’s unlikely but if they get another in another race, they might still accept that “second” slot.
Please note that the validation requirements has been waived by Ironman for Kona 2021.
Upcoming Qualifying Races
Ironman has started to post the 2021 Professional Racing schedule. I have extracted the Kona qualifying races as they are now, but there may be additions – or Covid-19 may force the cancellation of some races.
(There are quite a few “open questions” in the schedule, I expect some updates when the Covid-situation gets a bit clearer.)
| Date | Race | Prize Purse | MPRO | WPRO | Unassigned Slots |
| 2-May-21 | IM Australia | $75.000 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| IM Mallorca * | |||||
3-Jul-21 |
IM Lanzarote | $25.000 | 1 | 1 | |
| 23-May-21 | IM North American Championship, Tulsa | $150.000 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 6-Jun-21 | IM Asia Pacific Championship, Cairns | $100.000 | 2 | 2 | |
| 6-Jun-21 | IM Hamburg (WPRO) | $50.000 | 2 | ||
| IM France Nice (MPRO) + | |||||
| 27-Jun-21 | IM European Championship Frankfurt | $150.000 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 27-Jun-21 | IM Coeur d’Alene | $100.000 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4-Jul-21 | IM Austria Kärnten (WPRO) | $50.000 | 2 | ||
| 11-Jul-21 | IM Switzerland Thun (MPRO) | $50.000 | 2 | ||
| 25-Jul-21 | IM Lake Placid | $100.000 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14-Aug-21 | IM Finland, Kuopio Tahko (WPRO) | $50.000 | 2 | ||
| 21-Aug-21 | IM Kalmar (MPRO) | $50.000 | 2 | ||
| 22-Aug-21 | IM Mont Tremblant | $75.000 | 1 | 1 | |
| Open Slots | 15 | 17 | 10 | ||
| Already Assigned | Previous races, including 70.3 Champions and Kona podium finishers | 25 | 25 | ||
| Total | 40 | 42 | 10 |
The unassigned slots are proportionally assigned to the male and female Pros according to the number of Pro starters in the race.
* IM Mallorca was rescheduled for October 16th, the slots will no longer be for Kona 2021.
+ IM France was rescheduled for September 12th, the slots will no longer be for Kona 2021. It is unclear if the Male 2020 slots get reassigned to another race.