After Ironman CEO Andrew Messick shared a video message last week about the COVID-19 pandemic situation and how it will possibly affect racing in 2021, the response from triathletes was incredibly negative. Many triathletes were not happy with the way Ironman handled the situation with cancellations last year. Cancellations often came too late, according to athletes, the communication was poor, and athletes received no refunds whatsoever. Due to the amount of negative attention the topic was given, Triathlon Taren felt like he had to say something about the matter too. Just like the people who commented on Ironman, Taren is not pleased with how things have been handled. He explains himself in the video below.
“This video should have happened a year ago. Don’t wait an entire year to let the stuff happen, bubble up and then say ‘oh, everything’s fine, keep entering our races, but – by the way – we are not even going to acknowledge that we haven’t given any money back, and you all want money back.’ If you want us to be on your side Ironman, you have to give us a reason to be. And I really want to be on your side, but it’s getting harder and harder when you are tone deaf like this and taking tens of millions of dollars without giving any sort of value or any sort of compassion for people who are really suffering because of not having those funds.”
