2015 Ironman World Championship

The 2015 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on October 10, 2015 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The race was the 39th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.[1]

Ironman World Championship
LocationKailua-Kona, Hawaii
DateOctober 10, 2015
Champions
Men Jan Frodeno
Women Daniela Ryf

Championship results

Men
Rank Time
(h:mm:ss)		 Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss / m:ss)
Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
8:14:40Jan Frodeno Germany50:501:514:27:272:112:52:21
8:17:43Andreas Raelert Germany52:241:564:30:522:292:50:02
8:18:50Timothy O'Donnell United States52:242:014:26:132:262:55:46
48:21:25Andy Potts United States50:562:114:32:412:262:53:45
58:23:09Tyler Butterfield Bermuda52:332:014:29:352:412:56:19
68:25:05Cyril Viennot France52:352:194:34:272:392:53:05
78:28:10Eneko Llanos Spain52:362:154:26:562:133:04:10
88:29:43Sebastian Kienle Germany52:362:344:25:532:323:06:08
98:30:13Brent McMahon Canada52:261:514:27:512:033:06:02
108:31:43Boris Stein Germany57:272:114:30:482:292:58:48
Source:[2]

Women
Rank Time
(h:mm:ss)		 Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss / m:ss)
Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
8:57:57Daniela Ryf  Switzerland56:142:104:50:462:103:06:37
9:10:59Rachel Joyce United Kingdom56:112:155:01:292:223:08:42
9:14:52Liz Blatchford Australia56:132:075:07:252:423:06:25
49:18:50Michelle Vesterby Denmark56:111:585:00:412:463:17:14
59:21:45Heather Jackson United States1:04:362:135:04:432:203:07:53
69:23:50Susie Cheetham United Kingdom57:392:085:14:332:353:06:55
79:24:32Sarah Piampiano United States1:10:012:475:02:282:433:06:33
89:25:41Camilla Pedersen Denmark56:142:164:59:172:313:25:23
99:27:54Caroline Steffen  Switzerland56:162:055:10:533:133:15:27
109:28:36Lucy Gossage United Kingdom1:05:082:105:02:402:473:15:51
Source:[2]

Qualification

The division of athletes was divided into professional, age group, physically challenged, and hand cycle divisions.[3]

For entry into the 2015 World Championship race professional triathletes qualified for the championship through a point system. Points were earned by competing in WTC sanctioned Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events throughout the qualifying year. For the 2015 championship race that period was August 30, 2014 to August 23, 2015. The top 50 male and top 35 female pros in points at the end of the qualifying year qualify to race in Kona. An athlete's five highest scoring races were counted in the point totals. At least one Ironman race must have been completed and only three Ironman 70.3 races count towards an athlete's overall point total. Prior champions of a WTC Championship received an automatic entry for the Championship race for a period of five years after their last championship performance provided that they competed in at least one full-distance Ironman race during the qualifying year. Additionally, winners of the five regional Ironman championships received automatic qualification into the 2015 Ironman Championship. All automatic entries awarded did not count toward the number of available qualifying spots.[4][5] The available prize money to professional triathletes for qualifying races ranges from $25,000 to $150,000, depending on the event.[1]

Amateur athletes could qualify through a single performance at an Ironman event or at the Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau event. Slots were allocated to each amateur age group category, male and female, with the number of slots given out based on that category's proportional representation of the overall field. Each age group category was tentatively allocated one qualifying spot in each qualifying event.[3] This qualifying year marked a large de-emphasis on using selected Ironman 70.3 series races as an avenue for amateur athletes to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. The change was made to accommodate for the increased number of qualifying slots created from the newly added full Ironman events.[6]

Other means of entry into the championship race could also be obtained through a random allocation lottery, through Ironman's Legacy program, or through the Ironman's charitable eBay auction. Handcycle competitors could qualify at Ironman Cairns (one male/one female), Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg (one male/one female) and Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake (two male/one female)[3]

Illegal lottery

According to a sworn complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, Ironman illegally charged athletes for a chance to win the opportunity to compete in the Ironman World Championship.[7][8] According to Florida law, the state where the World Triathlon Corporation resides, it is illegal to set up and charge for a lottery.[9] Because WTC charged a $50 fee to enter the lottery, instead of giving away the opportunity to win a slot at the championships, they were in violation of this law.[10] Following the complaint WTC cooperated with the United States Attorneys office and the FBI's investigation of the matter and agreed to forfeit $2,761,910, the amount collected from the lottery since October 24, 2012.[7][11]

Winners of the 2015 lottery were notified on March 17, 2015, prior to the announcement of the complaint.[8] WTC stated that these winners would be unaffected by this decision and that their slots for the upcoming championship race would be honored.[12]

Non-point races

Prior to the 2014 Ironman Boulder race, World Triathlon Corporation's CEO, Andrew Messick, announced a redistribution of prize money to help facilitate paying ten professionals deep at each race as well as awarding larger prize purses at select races across Ironman and Ironman 70.3. As part of this initiative, WTC eliminated points and prize purses for professional triathletes at 9 Ironman events and 11 Ironman 70.3 events in 2015, all occurring within North America. Those Ironman races with no points or prize purse offered include: Ironman Boulder, Louisville, Wisconsin, Maryland, Lake Tahoe, Florida, Muskoka, Los Cabos and Lake Placid. The majority of these listed events occur after the qualifying period has ended, August, and near the date of the annual Championship event in October. This would also mark the first time since 1985 that an Ironman race will not offer a prize purse.[13] For the 2015 Ironman Championship qualifying period this affects Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Boulder.[14]

Qualifying Ironman races
DateEventLocation
Sep 7, 2014Ironman Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin
Sep 14, 2014Ironman Wales Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Sep 21, 2014Ironman Lake Tahoe* Lake Tahoe, California
Sep 27, 2014Ironman Malaysia Langkawi, Malaysia
Sep 27, 2014Ironman Mallorca Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain
Sep 28, 2014Ironman Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee
Oct 5, 2014Ironman Barcelona Barcelona, Spain
Oct 11, 2014Ironman World Championship Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Nov 1, 2014Ironman Florida Panama City Beach, Florida
Nov 9, 2014Ironman Fortaleza Fortaleza, Brazil
Nov 16, 2014Ironman Arizona Tempe, Arizona
Nov 30, 2014Ironman Cozumel Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Dec 7, 2014Ironman Western Australia Busselton, Western Australia
Mar 7, 2015Ironman New Zealand Taupo, New Zealand
Mar 22, 2015Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne, Australia
Mar 29, 2015Ironman African Championship Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Apr 12, 2015Ironman Taiwan Kenting, Taiwan
May 3, 2015Ironman Australia Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
May 16, 2015Ironman North American Championship The Woodlands Township, Texas
May 23, 2015Ironman Lanzarote Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, Spain
May 31, 2015Ironman Latin American Championships Florianópolis, Brazil
Jun 14, 2015Ironman Cairns Cairns, Australia
Jun 28, 2015Ironman France Nice, France
Jun 28, 2015Ironman Austria Klagenfurt, Austria
Jun 28, 2015Ironman Coeur d'Alene Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Jul 5, 2015Ironman European Championship Frankfurt, Germany
Jul 19, 2015Ironman UK Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Jul 19, 2015Ironman Switzerland Zürich, Switzerland
Jul 26, 2015Ironman Lake PlacidX Lake Placid, New York
Jul 26, 2015Ironman Canada Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Aug 2, 2015Ironman Maastricht-Limburg Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Aug 2, 2015Ironman BoulderX Boulder, Colorado
Aug 15, 2015Ironman Sweden Kalmar, Sweden
Aug 16, 2015Ironman Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
August 23, 2015Ironman Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
Aug 23, 2015Ironman Japan Hokkaido, Japan

*Ironman Lake Tahoe was canceled due to smoke from the King Fire.[15]
XAmateur only competition.

References
  1. "Pro Event Registration". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  2. "2015 Results: World Championship". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  3. "Qualification FAQ". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  4. "IM Qualifying". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  5. Krabel, Herbert (July 26, 2010). "2011 Kona Pro Qualification Rules". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  6. Mavis, Bethany (July 22, 2014). "How Losing Kona Slots Will Affect 70.3 Races". Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  7. "World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman) Forfeits More Than $2.7 Million in Lottery Proceeds". Federal Bureau of Investigation. May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  8. "U.S. District Court Complaint". scribd.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  9. "849.09 Lottery prohibited; exceptions". gambling-law-us.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  10. .Stein, Letitia (May 13, 2015). "Ironman triathlon ran illegal lottery for athletes: U.S. prosecutors". Reuters. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  11. Moskovitz, Diana (May 19, 2015). "Feds: Ironman Ran An Illegal Lottery And Made Millions". deadspin.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  12. "Statement from IRONMAN in response to recent DOJ decision". Ironman.com. May 13, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  13. Coombs, Danielle Sarver; Batchelor, Bob (2013). American History Through American Sports. ABC-CLIO. p. 281. ISBN 9780313379888.
  14. Polloreno, Julia (August 3, 2014). "Ironman Announces Redistribution of Prize Purse Money for 2015". Competitor, Inc. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  15. Fritz, Angela; Johnson, Thomas (September 22, 2014). "Smoke from massive King Fire overtakes Lake Tahoe, cancels Ironman race". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  16. "2015 Final KPR - Men" (PDF). World Triathlon Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  17. Radde, Thorsten (September 29, 2015). "Ironman Hawaii 2015 – Always Up To Date Pro Startlist". trirating.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  18. "2015 Final KPR - Women" (PDF). World Triathlon Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
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