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Which Nation Has the Most Kona Pros?

With the Kona Pro startlists finalized (see my posts on the male and female fields), this post looks at which nation the Pros are from and which nations have the most Pros.

Overall

Here are the numbers of professional athletes from different nations in Kona this year:

  • 17: Germany, USA
    There are actually 19 PROs that qualified from Germany, but Mareen Hufe and Natascha Schmitt had to withdraw.
  • 11: Australia (after the withdrawal of Pete Jacobs)
  • 9: Great Britain
  • 6: Switzerland
  • 4: Belgium, Spain, Canada, Denmark
  • 3: Brasil, France, Austria
  • 2: South Africa, Estonia, New Zealand,
  • 1: Croatia, Netherlands, Italy, Bermuda, Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia
Since the KPR has been introduced for Kona 2011, the total number of Pro starters has been relatively stable between 82 in 2011 to 88 in 2015 and 91 this year (though that number could still shrink until raceday). Here’s a look at how the numbers have developed over the last years for the nations with the largest number of Kona Pros:

PRO

As you can see, the US has been dominating the field for a long time by quite a large margin, this year would have been the first time Germany could have taken the top spot.

Female

The next chart shows the breakdown for the Female Pros – here the USA is still clearly the nation with the largest number of athletes:

FPRO

Male

Things are a little bit different on the male side. This year Germany has the most male Pros, the first time as the “outright” leader. In the past there has been a back and forth between the USA, Australia and Germany:

MPRO

Ironman Hawaii 2016 – Female Pro Predictions

This is an excerpt of the data in my 2016 Kona Rating Report. (Find out more in this info post, you can download the report here).

Female Race Participants

Here are my predictions for the female race in Kona. Similar to the men’s predictions, please don’t focus too much on the times in the table but the differences between the athletes. Again I expect very close racing especially for the last spots in the Top 10.

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Rating Swim Bike Run
1 101 Daniela Ryf SUI 08:55:34 08:55:01 00:55:04 04:50:25 03:05:05
2 111 Mirinda Carfrae AUS 09:02:35 08:59:59 00:59:13 05:02:50 02:55:32
3 108 Jodie Swallow GBR 09:14:46 09:12:46 00:52:52 04:59:16 03:17:39
4 130 Yvonne Van Vlerken NED 09:19:13 09:16:26 01:02:18 04:58:38 03:13:17
5 104 Heather Jackson USA 09:19:40 09:18:38 01:03:41 05:03:37 03:07:22
6 106 Julia Gajer GER 09:19:55 09:17:14 00:57:44 05:07:52 03:09:19
7 105 Lucy Gossage GBR 09:21:48 09:16:53 01:03:07 05:01:26 03:12:15
8 116 Michelle Vesterby DEN 09:22:00 09:23:10 00:55:47 05:04:08 03:17:05
9 138 Carrie Lester AUS 09:22:14 09:25:57 00:58:12 05:04:46 03:14:16
10 102 Susie Cheetham GBR 09:22:19 09:16:19 00:58:11 05:14:21 03:04:47
11 127 Linsey Corbin USA 09:22:58 09:19:23 01:02:07 05:09:37 03:06:14
12 113 Mary Beth Ellis USA 09:24:03 09:18:08 00:55:06 05:02:00 03:21:57
13 110 Camilla Pedersen DEN 09:24:11 09:18:07 00:55:48 05:03:11 03:20:12
14 120 Meredith Kessler USA 09:24:20 09:17:50 00:53:53 05:03:56 03:21:31
15 121 Melissa Hauschildt AUS 09:24:27 09:23:29 01:01:14 05:07:32 03:10:40
16 112 Leanda Cave GBR 09:24:48 09:25:21 00:54:55 05:07:45 03:17:09
17 103 Sarah Piampiano USA 09:26:02 09:31:37 01:08:16 05:04:45 03:08:01
18 109 Kaisa Lehtonen FIN 09:26:20 09:27:57 00:59:25 05:11:26 03:10:28
19 115 Anja Beranek GER 09:26:28 09:19:29 00:56:15 04:59:01 03:26:11
20 119 Elizabeth Lyles USA 09:27:09 09:26:12 01:00:24 05:12:22 03:09:23
21 139 Jodie Robertson USA 09:28:28 09:28:36 01:11:50 05:04:06 03:07:33
22 118 Asa Lundstroem SWE 09:30:03 09:31:21 01:04:41 05:06:15 03:14:06
23 117 Annabel Luxford AUS 09:31:51 09:26:22 00:55:55 05:03:34 03:27:22
24 143 Michaela Herlbauer AUT 09:32:57 09:33:18 01:00:35 05:13:18 03:14:04
25 128 Tine Deckers BEL 09:33:02 09:28:53 01:02:40 05:02:15 03:23:07
26 125 Heather Wurtele CAN 09:33:27 09:29:44 00:58:41 05:06:32 03:23:15
27 114 Lisa Roberts USA 09:38:17 09:38:04 01:10:10 05:15:39 03:07:28
28 144 Natascha Badmann SUI 09:39:20 09:36:16 01:06:11 05:05:12 03:22:58
29 122 Sarah Crowley AUS 09:39:30 09:38:36 01:01:54 05:08:44 03:23:53
30 126 Mareen Hufe GER 09:39:34 09:35:18 01:05:14 05:03:15 03:26:05
31 129 Daniela Saemmler GER 09:41:54 09:38:28 01:00:35 05:12:01 03:24:18
32 132 Kristin Moeller GER 09:42:25 09:38:18 01:09:33 05:21:34 03:06:17
33 123 Katja Konschak GER 09:46:17 09:54:16 00:57:58 05:25:34 03:17:46
34 141 Natascha Schmitt GER 09:47:34 09:52:58 00:58:45 05:14:27 03:29:22
35 135 Ariane Monticeli BRA 09:47:47 09:43:49 01:06:18 05:21:39 03:14:50
36 107 Gurutze Frades Larralde ESP 09:48:17 09:51:50 01:06:44 05:23:20 03:13:13
37 124 Alicia Kaye USA 09:50:07 09:52:22 00:56:37 05:16:46 03:31:44
38 142 Laurel Wassner USA 09:50:23 09:46:47 00:59:13 05:25:46 03:20:24
39 137 Alexandra Tondeur BEL 09:52:01 09:52:32 01:06:30 05:22:48 03:17:44
40 136 Dimity-Lee Duke AUS 09:53:51 09:45:33 01:04:51 05:20:13 03:23:47
41 133 Verena Walter GER 09:54:44 09:57:27 01:04:54 05:15:53 03:28:58
42 134 Saleta Castro Nogueira ESP 09:56:15 10:02:44 01:00:34 05:30:52 03:19:49
43 140 Bianca Steurer AUT 09:57:18 09:54:25 01:02:41 05:24:51 03:24:46
44 131 Tine Holst DEN 10:01:03 10:02:35 01:09:13 05:17:10 03:29:39

Heatmap

Here’s the heat map for the women’s race – a darker red corresponding to faster athletes in the swim, bike, run and overall.

womenpoints_large

Ironman Hawaii 2016 – Male Pro Predictions

This is an excerpt of the data in my 2016 Kona Rating Report. (Find out more in this info post, you can download the report here).

Male Race Participants

Here are my predictions for the male Kona field.

One important disclaimer: This is a statistical analysis, but “past performance is not an indicator of future performance” – at least not down to the last few important seconds or minute or two. The results for an “experiment of one” (such as the Kona 2016 race) are usually different to averages: People have a great day or a crappy one, some weird things may happen (such as a mechanical or a penalty) or athletes may decide to “go for it” and blow up on the run. So my data is just an indication of what may happen and the race still has to be raced. In addition, the focus shouldn’t be on absolute times but on the comparison between different athletes – e.g. not that my expected swim time for Frodo is exactly 49:56 (the actual time can be influcenced by a lot of factors) but that he should be about three and a half minutes faster than Sebi. Also the data shows how close the racing in Kona is expected to be – there are less ten minutes between for example 8th seeded Andi Boecherer and 33rd seeded Fabio Carvalho. Ten minutes is easily the difference between a good day and a bad day. At least for me, the data and predictions make it easier during the race to spot things that are different from what’s normal for each of the athletes and make following the coverage more interesting.

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Rating Swim Bike Run
1 1 Jan Frodeno GER 08:09:06 08:07:15 00:49:56 04:26:24 02:47:46
2 2 Sebastian Kienle GER 08:17:57 08:12:23 00:53:33 04:22:35 02:56:50
3 9 Andreas Raelert GER 08:18:26 08:22:24 00:51:59 04:30:51 02:50:36
4 3 Brent McMahon CAN 08:20:51 08:12:59 00:51:20 04:29:46 02:54:46
5 4 Andy Potts USA 08:21:54 08:23:08 00:50:18 04:34:03 02:52:34
6 8 Timothy O’Donnell USA 08:22:11 08:36:59 00:51:15 04:30:40 02:55:16
7 20 Patrick Lange GER 08:22:25 08:22:32 00:52:26 04:37:02 02:47:57
8 16 Andi Boecherer GER 08:25:29 08:26:08 00:51:03 04:25:59 03:03:27
9 6 Eneko Llanos ESP 08:26:15 08:22:51 00:51:42 04:28:46 03:00:48
10 12 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 08:26:19 08:22:37 00:51:31 04:29:28 03:00:20
11 10 Tyler Butterfield BMU 08:26:49 08:35:36 00:52:09 04:31:45 02:57:55
12 31 Timo Bracht GER 08:27:20 08:24:07 00:53:07 04:34:51 02:54:22
13 18 Cyril Viennot FRA 08:27:57 08:32:30 00:53:47 04:35:05 02:54:05
14 5 Tim Van Berkel AUS 08:28:17 08:28:55 00:51:18 04:37:26 02:54:32
15 39 Will Clarke GBR 08:28:56 08:34:13 00:53:14 04:42:20 02:48:22
16 44 Ivan Rana ESP 08:29:27 08:25:23 00:51:25 04:43:17 02:49:44
17 29 Luke McKenzie AUS 08:30:12 08:34:07 00:51:59 04:28:58 03:04:14
18 11 Pete Jacobs AUS 08:30:26 08:48:31 00:50:22 04:35:36 02:59:28
19 19 David Dellow AUS 08:30:45 08:25:20 00:50:56 04:38:07 02:56:42
20 27 Bart Aernouts BEL 08:30:47 08:26:01 00:56:20 04:37:43 02:51:44
21 14 Boris Stein GER 08:31:03 08:29:44 00:57:38 04:33:01 02:55:24
22 33 Jesse Thomas USA 08:31:32 08:32:00 00:55:07 04:37:37 02:53:48
23 40 Ronnie Schildknecht SUI 08:31:32 08:27:26 00:56:00 04:36:03 02:54:29
24 32 David McNamee GBR 08:31:33 08:26:14 00:51:40 04:44:52 02:50:01
25 46 Joe Skipper GBR 08:31:42 08:35:40 00:57:57 04:33:30 02:55:15
26 59 Callum Millward NZL 08:32:02 08:31:20 00:52:13 04:40:05 02:54:44
27 24 James Cunnama ZAF 08:32:55 08:33:58 00:53:13 04:37:48 02:56:54
28 37 Michael Weiss AUT 08:33:06 08:32:02 00:58:40 04:28:45 03:00:41
29 21 Ben Hoffman USA 08:33:35 08:33:32 00:52:06 04:33:53 03:02:36
30 51 Jordan Rapp USA 08:34:17 08:28:38 00:56:12 04:34:23 02:58:43
31 7 Lionel Sanders CAN 08:34:22 08:31:14 01:00:11 04:35:12 02:53:59
32 15 Tim Don GBR 08:34:32 08:27:38 00:51:42 04:40:01 02:57:48
33 53 Fabio Carvalho BRA 08:35:07 08:50:15 00:52:15 04:37:27 03:00:25
34 26 Terenzo Bozzone NZL 08:36:14 08:33:13 00:51:43 04:39:02 03:00:29
35 25 Kevin Collington USA 08:36:40 08:39:16 00:52:20 04:42:18 02:57:02
36 22 Marko Albert EST 08:37:21 08:34:34 00:50:28 04:38:30 03:03:24
37 41 Paul Matthews AUS 08:37:45 08:31:16 00:50:57 04:39:49 03:01:58
38 28 Stefan Schmid GER 08:37:51 08:37:07 00:56:40 04:38:00 02:58:11
39 23 Tim Reed AUS 08:38:34 08:36:15 00:52:06 04:37:34 03:03:54
40 35 Alessandro Degasperi ITA 08:38:36 08:34:13 00:55:30 04:45:12 02:52:54
41 36 Ruedi Wild SUI 08:39:06 08:41:57 00:54:14 04:46:02 02:53:50
42 54 Denis Chevrot FRA 08:39:45 08:35:50 00:50:42 04:45:39 02:58:23
43 49 Christian Kramer GER 08:40:21 08:37:27 00:51:15 04:39:44 03:04:22
44 48 Igor Amorelli BRA 08:40:54 08:40:16 00:51:20 04:35:31 03:09:03
45 38 Pedro Gomes POR 08:41:23 08:39:41 00:55:33 04:44:31 02:56:19
46 17 Matthew Russell USA 08:42:34 08:51:18 01:01:45 04:38:51 02:56:58
47 42 Kirill Kotshegarov EST 08:44:48 08:46:51 00:57:58 04:38:40 03:03:09
48 34 David Plese SLO 08:44:55 08:41:10 00:56:38 04:43:57 02:59:20
49 56 Trevor Wurtele CAN 08:45:30 08:44:48 00:56:50 04:40:57 03:02:44
50 47 Kyle Buckingham ZAF 08:45:50 08:38:31 00:53:26 04:39:21 03:08:03
51 57 Per Bittner GER 08:46:00 08:42:03 00:53:35 04:42:44 03:04:41
52 58 Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 08:46:22 08:41:56 00:55:11 04:48:46 02:57:24
53 55 Jan Van Berkel SUI 08:49:20 08:45:24 00:53:03 04:41:00 03:10:17
54 50 Andrej Vistica CRO 08:49:21 08:45:32 00:58:18 04:44:17 03:01:46
55 52 Harry Wiltshire GBR 08:52:20 08:49:16 00:51:07 04:50:03 03:06:11
56 30 Markus Thomschke GER 08:53:42 08:55:13 00:57:40 04:39:39 03:11:23
57 45 Bertrand Billard FRA 08:54:40 08:57:11 00:54:10 04:44:55 03:10:34
58 43 Mauro Baertsch SUI 08:55:03 08:56:38 00:58:14 04:50:08 03:01:41

Heatmap

Here is another way of looking at the data in the table: Instead of showing predicted times I have converted them into zero to five starts for each of the legs and overall and showing them as a “heat map”. A darker red corresponds to more stars, white is equal to no stars.

MenPoints

Kona Trivia Questions

Here’s a few tricky trivia questions about Kona, this year’s field and some earlier races.

  1. Who are the oldest and youngest athlete’s in this year’s Pro field?
  2. What’s the total number of Kona wins in the male and female field?
  3. Which nation has the most Kona Pros?
  4. Who won Kona (male and female) the last year that an American female was on podium?

I’ve discussed these questions with my friend Tawnee Prazak on an upcoming Endurance Planet episode looking ahead to Kona. Some more questions we didn’t have time for:

  1. Who finished in 10th and 11th place last year (male and female)?
  2. Which Pros will start Kona without a previous Ironman-distance finish?
  3. When was the last time when all Top3 (male or female) came from the same country?

All answers can be found with the information in my Kona Rating Report!

Ironman Chattanooga 2016 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

This year’s race was much slower than in the past (adjustment of 5:55, leading to a new course rating of 11:54), mainly because the run was really hard this year – probably a result of the heat on race day.

Male Race Results

After IM Austria in June, Marino won another Ironman race – if my data is correct it was his 16th win in an Ironman. He continues to be one of the best Ironman athletes, in addition to being a fast bike rider he is also able to follow that up with a strong run – his 2:55 was the second fastest of the day and one of only three sub-3 runs. After a broken elbow forced him out of IM Texas (and any decent chance of qualifying for Kona), Jeff Symonds was back to racing, and the fastest marathon of the day allowed him to run into second place. Third place went to Matthew Russell in his fifth IM-distance race of the year – and he’s also on the Kona startlist. After a few sub-par races Matt Hanson claimed 4th, Justin Daerr finished in 5th place.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Marino Vanhoenacker BEL 00:45:08 04:27:28 02:55:26 08:12:22 -01:01 US$ 20000
2 Jeff Symonds CAN 00:45:10 04:39:18 02:50:13 08:19:27 -07:28 US$ 10000
3 Matthew Russell USA 00:45:15 04:31:04 03:04:06 08:24:53 -15:37 US$ 6500
4 Matt Hanson USA 00:45:06 04:39:22 02:57:07 08:25:36 -08:17 US$ 4000
5 Justin Daerr USA 00:45:11 04:37:55 03:01:54 08:29:47 -09:31 US$ 3000
6 Esben Hovgaard DEN 00:45:15 04:39:09 03:15:50 08:44:55 00:04 US$ 2000
7 Jozsef Major HUN 00:50:30 04:48:21 03:01:17 08:45:44 -03:56 US$ 1500
8 Eric Limkemann USA 00:41:25 04:35:15 03:27:38 08:49:30 14:55 US$ 1250
9 Chad Holderbaum USA 00:45:17 04:41:00 03:22:46 08:54:24 -07:09 US$ 1000
10 Clint Kimmins AUS 00:45:07 04:42:38 03:28:41 09:01:36 n/a US$ 750
11 Adam Otstot USA 00:45:19 04:58:22 03:17:29 09:06:32 15:21
12 Colin Laughery USA 00:47:26 04:54:34 03:26:46 09:15:44 04:53
13 James Lubinski USA 00:57:08 04:55:42 03:18:44 09:17:04 00:20
14 Patrick Schuster USA 00:55:39 04:51:40 03:33:57 09:26:25 -04:18
15 Matt Shanks USA 00:49:26 05:06:02 03:37:12 09:38:35 -01:04
16 Dusty Spiller CAN 00:51:48 05:15:41 03:27:50 09:40:35 n/a
17 Peter Kotland CZE 00:49:28 05:05:54 03:50:30 09:52:45 09:49
18 Ivan Dominguez USA 00:47:21 05:04:03 04:06:14 10:04:36 n/a
Viktor Zyemtsev UKR 00:45:13 04:39:29 DNF
Barrett Brandon USA 00:41:20 04:48:20 DNF
Mario De Elias ARG 00:45:14 04:46:06 DNF
Raymond Botelho USA 00:45:21 05:00:18 DNF
Blake Becker USA 00:46:13 04:59:48 DNF
Brent Mcburney USA 00:49:24 05:10:42 DNF
Dantley Young USA 00:55:53 05:17:07 DNF
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