Ironman Lake Placid was the last race to qualify for the 2023 Ironman World Championship in Nice (men, ed.) a week and a half ago, and that means triathletes are already competing to qualify for the 2024 IM World Championship on Kona. This does take into account that there are a lot fewer qualifying slots available. This is logically related to the new situation in which Ironman is hosting World Championships in both Kona and Nice.
Ironman found it difficult to get rid of all the slots for this year’s IM World Championship in Nice, resulting in pretty long roll downs at the award ceremonies. But, from now on it will be a lot harder to qualify for Kona 2024. On the weekend of Aug. 5 and 6, for example, only 15 slots are available at Ironman Tallinn in Estonia, and 20 slots are up for grabs in Gdynia, Poland. In Wisconsin in September, there are 20 slots for Kona 2024, but as many as 60 slots for the women for Nice 2024.
The roulation of the women’s and men’s IM World Champs is the biggest reason for allocating fewer slots. When the decision was announced, many male triathletes had already accepted their slot as well as paid for Kona. They were given a choice between participating in Nice 2023 or advancing their slot to Kona 2024. A large number of triathletes chose the second option, so many Kona slots for 2024 are already occupied. Here is the overview of slots by remaining Ironmans in 2023.
