2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Explained

Event:Ironman 70.3 World Championship
Location:Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria
Date:August 30, 2015
Men: Jan Frodeno
Women: Daniela Ryf
Prev:2014
Next:2016

The 2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition that was held in Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria on August 30, 2015. It was won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from August 3, 2014 through July 12, 2015. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series.[1] A prize purse of $250,000 will be distributed to the top 10 male and female professional athletes.[2] The race marked the second year of the championship event being held in a non-recurring location and the first time being held in Europe.[3]

Championship results

Men

Pos. Time
(h:mm:ss)
Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss)
Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
3:51:19align='left'Jan Frodenoalign='left'22:142:032:09:041:261:16:32
3:52:48align='left'Sebastian Kienlealign='left'24:042:032:09:541:251:15:22
3:55:05align='left'Javier Gómezalign='left'22:122:042:13:381:361:15:35
43:56:28align='left'Bart Aernoutsalign='left'25:382:062:12:071:421:14:55
53:56:34align='left'Michael Raelertalign='left'22:152:102:13:191:331:17:17
63:56:52align='left'Andreas Böchereralign='left'22:122:162:09:001:401:21:44
73:57:47align='left'Jan Van Berkelalign='left'22:272:032:13:151:281:18:34
83:58:44align='left'Tyler Butterfieldalign='left'24:051:582:13:481:341:17:19
93:58:58align='left'Andreas Dreitzalign='left'23:042:062:07:351:361:24:37
104:00:11align='left'Albert Molinsalign='left'24:302:222:14:321:491:16:58
Source:[4]

Women

Pos. Time
(h:mm:ss)
Name Country Split times (h:mm:ss)
Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
4:11:34align='left'Daniela Ryfalign='left'23:462:032:21:101:261:22:51
4:23:07align='left'Heather Wurtelealign='left'26:332:032:27:391:251:24:56
4:24:10align='left'Anja Beranekalign='left'24:322:042:24:181:361:31:17
44:25:33align='left'Magali Tisseyrealign='left'24:552:062:27:561:421:28:45
54:27:39align='left'Alicia Kayealign='left'24:032:102:28:581:331:30:35
64:29:53align='left'Julia Gajeralign='left'24:462:162:33:061:401:27:33
74:30:31align='left'Susie Cheethamalign='left'26:342:032:34:521:281:25:01
84:30:47align='left'Ricarda Liskalign='left'24:031:582:35:381:341:27:14
94:31:00align='left'Lauren Barnettalign='left'26:362:062:32:181:361:27:52
104:31:47align='left'Emma Bilhamalign='left'24:522:222:32:381:491:30:24
Source:

With Ryf's win she became the first female to win back-to-back Ironman 70.3 championship titles. Former champions Jodie Swallow and Meredith Kessler both exited the race early. Swallow pulled out after the swim after suffering a bike crash the previous day. Kessler experienced mechanical issues on the bike.[5]

Qualification

The 2015 Ironman 70.3 Series featured 71 events that enabled qualification to the 2015 World Championship event. Professional triathletes qualified for the championship race by competing in races during the qualifying period, earning points towards their pro rankings. For the 2015 championship race that period was August 3, 2014 to July 12, 2015. An athlete’s five highest scoring races are counted toward their pro rankings. The top 50 males and top 35 females in the pro rankings qualified for the championship race. The previous five 70.3 champions receive an automatic qualifying spot provided they validate their entry by competitively finishing one qualifying race. Winners of the five regional 70.3 championships will also automatically qualify for the championship race. These winners did not count towards the final 50 and 35 qualifiers[1] Professional athletes were also eligible for prize purses at each qualifying event, which ranged in total size from $75,000 to $100,000.[1] [6]

Amateur triathletes could qualify for the championship race by earning a qualifying slot at one of the qualifying events. At qualifying events, slots were allocated to each 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. In previous years some 70.3 events also served as qualifiers for the full Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.[7] However, the 2014 qualifying year served as the final year for almost all qualifying races in this capacity. As such this year's qualifying season only the handcycle competitions and Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau will offer qualification into the 2015 Ironman World Championship. This was to accommodate for the increased number of qualifying slots created from the newly added full Ironman events.[8]

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 initially at 9 Ironman events and 11 Ironman 70.3 events in 2015, mostly occurring within North America.[6] There are nine Ironman 70.3 races with no professional points or prize purse offered for the 2015 Ironman 70.3 Championship qualifying period.

Qualifying Ironman 70.3 events

Date Event Location[9] [10]
Ironman 70.3 Philippines Cebu, Philippines
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead Benton Harbor, Michigan
Ironman 70.3 European Pro Championship Wiesbaden, Germany
Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens Lake Stevens, Washington
Ironman 70.3 Timberman Gilford, New Hampshire
Ironman 70.3 Budapest Budapest, Hungary
Ironman 70.3 Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Ironman 70.3 Zell am See Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria
Ironman 70.3 World Championship Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Ironman 70.3 Muskoka Huntsville, Ontario
Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Ironman 70.3 Rügen Rügen, Germany
Ironman 70.3 KronbergX Elsinore, Denmark
Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote Lanzarote, Spain
Ironman 70.3 Princeton Princeton, New Jersey
Ironman 70.3 CozumelCozumel, Mexico
Ironman 70.3 Lake Tahoe*|| Lake Tahoe, California|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Augusta|| Augusta, Georgia|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Gurye Korea|| Gurye, Korea|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Silverman|| Henderson, Nevada|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Port MacQuarie|| Port Macquarie, New South Wales|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Miami|| Miami, Florida|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Austin|| Austin, Texas|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Taiwan|| Hengchun, Taiwan|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Australian Pro Championship|| Mandurah, Western Australia|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Ballarat|| Ballarat, Victoria|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney|| Sydney, New South Wales|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Pucón|| Pucón, Chile|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Pro Championship|| Auckland, New Zealand|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 South Africa|| Buffalo City, South Africa|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Geelong|| Geelong, Victoria|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay|| Subic Bay, Philippines|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico|| San Juan, Puerto Rico|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Monterrey|| Monterrey, Mexico|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 California|| Oceanside, California|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Latin American Pro Championship|| Brasília, Brazil|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya|| Putrajaya, Malaysia|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 FloridaX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Haines City, Florida|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 New Orleans|| New Orleans, Louisiana|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Texas|| Galveston, Texas|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship|| St. George, Utah|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Busselton|| Busselton, Western Australia|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 St Croix|| Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Pays d'Aix|| Aix-en-Provence, France|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Mallorca|| Alcudia, Mallorca, Spain|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Vietnam|| Da Nang, Vietnam|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Austria|| St. Pölten/Vienna, Austria|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Barcelona|| Barcelona, Spain|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga|| Chattanooga, Tennessee|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 HawaiiX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Kohala, Hawaii|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Raleigh|| Raleigh, North Carolina|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Japan|| Tokoname, Aichi, Japan|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Switzerland|| Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau|| Kraichgau, Germany|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Boulder|| Boulder, Colorado|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 BoiseX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Boise, Idaho|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Italy|| Pescara,Italy|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Eagleman|| Cambridge, Maryland|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Cairns|| Cairns, Queensland|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire||Staffordshire, England|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 VictoriaX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Victoria, British Columbia|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg|| Luxembourg|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 KronbergX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Elsinore, Denmark|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 SyracuseX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Syracuse, New York|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant|| Mont-Tremblant, Quebec|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 UKX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Wimbleball, Exmoor, UK|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake|| Lubbock, Texas|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Incheon Korea|| Incheon, Korea|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Norway|| Haugesund, Norway|-|align="right"||||Ironman 70.3 Muskoka||| Huntsville, Ontario|-|style="background: #DBE9F4" align="right"|||style="background: #DBE9F4"|Ironman 70.3 MuncieX||style="background: #DBE9F4"| Muncie, Indiana|-|align="right"|||Ironman 70.3 Vineman|| Sonoma County, California|}

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2015 Ironman World Championship 70.3 Qualifying. https://web.archive.org/web/20150523071813/http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/organizations/pro-membership/qualifying/70.3-qualifying.aspx. May 23, 2015. June 26, 2015. World Triathlon Corporation.
  2. Web site: 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Prize Purse Increased. February 4, 2014. February 25, 2014. Competitor Group, Inc..
  3. Web site: 70.3 Worlds Internationalizes. Empfield. Dan. Slowtwitch.com. May 7, 2013. May 15, 2013.
  4. Web site: 2015 Results: World Championship. August 31, 2015. World Triathlon Corporation. https://web.archive.org/web/20181006114703/http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=worldchampionship70.3&y=2015#axzz3kOvYbEDH. October 6, 2018. dead.
  5. Web site: Ryf Repeats Frodeno Wins At 70.3 World Champs. Taren. Adrienne. August 30, 2015. August 31, 2015. TRS Triathlon.
  6. Web site: Ironman Announces Redistribution of Prize Purse Money for 2015. Polloreno. Julia. August 3, 2014. March 24, 2015. Competitor, Inc.. https://web.archive.org/web/20150315204742/http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/08/news/ironman-announces-redistribution-prize-purse-money-2015_103368. March 15, 2015. dead.
  7. Web site: Qualification FAQ. https://web.archive.org/web/20140308231356/http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/world-championship/athletes/qualification-faq.aspx. March 8, 2014. July 23, 2014. World Triathlon Corporation.
  8. Web site: How Losing Kona Slots Will Affect 70.3 Races. Mavis. Bethany. July 22, 2014. July 1, 2015. Competitor Group, Inc.. https://web.archive.org/web/20150922200823/http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/07/news/losing-kona-slots-will-affect-70-3-races_102757. September 22, 2015. dead.
  9. Web site: Event Registration. World Triathlon Corporation. June 25, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20141019232811/http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/organizations/pro-membership/event-registration.aspx#axzz3eAm6hV00. October 19, 2014. dead.
  10. Web site: 2015 Qualifying Event. June 26, 2015. World Triathlon Corporation.