Women pros to get equal Kona slots under Ironman’s new qualifying system
The change aligns with the global age-group system with qualifying slots being allocated to Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events on the global pro calendar for the respective world championship races.
The guaranteed base slot allocations will be equal for both male and female professional athletes, with additional slots being allocated and distributed to events based on the number of professional starters. The Regional Championship events will be assigned the greatest number of qualifying slots of any event on the pro circuit. Each qualifying Ironman or Ironman 70.3 event will have at a minimum one men’s and one women’s professional slot.
For the global 2019 Ironman professional calendar, the number of World Championship slots is expected to be approximately 100, similar to the current total allocation. Based upon the global 2019 70.3 professional calendar, the current two-day format of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship could allow for up to 170 professional athletes split between the days.
World Championship podium finishers and a reciprocal exemption invitation to the 70.3 World Champion. All exemptions remain subject to completion of a validation race and remain additional to the guaranteed allocations to qualifying events.
