Antoine Abou-Samra was not happy about it, to say the least, when he learned via Triathlon Today that the World Championship Ironman would henceforth rotate between two different venues: Kona and Nice. He opened a petition to get Andrew Messick – Ironman’s CEO – to abandon the choice.After the storm of news subsided somewhat, he opened a petition to have Andrew Messick – Ironman’s CEO – reverse the decision.
Very little chance seems likely that Ironman will reverse its choice based on a petition, but in the meantime Abou-Samra has collected just over three thousand digital signatures. “The Ironman World Championships in Kona has been the ultimate test for triathletes. It’s the reason why many have entered and stayed in the sport. The decision by the Ironman Group to move to dual hosting cities in 2023 has been a blow to many aspiring triathletes.”
With the petition, Abou-Samra is also addressing the issue that the local community on Kona is actually not that keen on the event anymore. “In 2022, the use of a 2-day format caused huge problems on the local community, The decision to go for a dual hosting has been presented in part as a solution to be more respectful of the local community in Hawaii. But for many years, the one-day event was going just fine. So why not go back to it? Even if it means that qualifying for the event will be harder.”
You’ll find the petition here.
