The Ironman World Championship was set to celebrate 40 years in Kona this October, but with the impact of COVID-19, the triathlon is being rescheduled to February.
The 2020 editions of the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona and 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand cannot take place on their originally scheduled dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ironman officials announced Thursday.
The Ironman World Championship will now take place on Feb. 6, 2021, returning to its historic original race month and marking 40 years since it first took place in Kailua-Kona, according to the company.
While a new date for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship has not yet been determined, teams are working with local and national officials and authorities to secure a date for early 2021.
“Ironman has been closely monitoring the situation and guidance by the Hawaiian and New Zealand governments regarding mass gatherings, border and travel restrictions and other COVID-19 related issues to assess the feasibility of hosting the 2020 Ironman World Championship and 2020 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Additionally, as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact events around the world, both world championship events have seen a majority of their respective qualifying events postponed or unable to take place in 2020, impeding the ability to produce and host truly competitive world championship events. Based on these factors and circumstances beyond our control, coupled with a mission to give athletes and communities as much preparation time as possible, it is clear the world championship events cannot proceed as planned in October and November, respectively,” a statement from Ironman reads.