Natascha Badmann receives extension of Automatic Qualifying entitlement August 19, 2011 (Tampa, Fla.) – Introduced in September 2010, the Kona Points Ranking (KPR) qualifying system has allowed professional athletes the opportunity to race and accumulate points at 85 qualifying events throughout the season.  KPR rankings have been updated weekly, giving athletes the ability to track their points and positions in the ranking.   Athletes who have earned their slots through the KPR qualifying system will race at the Ford Ironman World Championship. The KPR qualifying system also allows for the granting of wildcard entries into the Ford Ironman World Championship to be awarded by the WTC. There will be no wildcards granted in 2011 to the Ford Ironman World Championship. Six-time Ironman World Champion Natascha Badmann has been granted a one-year extension of her five-year Automatic Qualifying (AQ) entitlement.  The extension follows … Continue reading →

This past weekend were the final two events scoring for the first round of ‘July’ qualifiers for Kona at the Ironman UK and Ironman 70.3 Calgary. The only ‘tense’ moments came from second place women’s finisher at Ironman UK, Diana Riesler who led the race for most of the day, and a win for her would have secured the 25th qualifying slot in the KPR.  Her second place finish leaves Samantha Warriner , IM New Zealand Champion in that slot by just 55 points. The top 25 qualified women  athletes in the KPR  (Mirinda Carfrae is an Automatic Qualifier) will be extended the invitation to accept their slot by August 7th or allow it to roll to the next qualified athlete. On the men’s side , there was little change and the top 40 qualified  men listed on the KPR … Continue reading →

With this weekend’s two important Ironman races—in Frankfurt and Lake Placid—there was a great deal of movement in the Kona Pro Rankings. With Frankfurt being the European Championships, it earned athletes 4000 points, making a significant impact on the overall rankings. On the women’s side, Caroline Steffen and Yvonne Van Vlerken took over the first and second KPR slots, respectively. The biggest move was second-place Ironman Frankfurt finisher, Lucie Zelenkova, who moved from outside the top 50 to the 19th position. Virginia Berasategui finished tenth in Frankfurt, validating her slot to Kona. All the top women now appear to have completed the Kona qualification process. It’s now down to one more weekend of racing (Ironman UK and Calgary 70.3), though neither event is on the high on the points scale) for the first round of July qualifiers for Kona. On … Continue reading →

Listing of official July 70.3PR Qualifiers for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas, September 11, 2011. All athletes will be notified and requested to accept/ decline their slot in the upcoming week.  Any declined slots will then be rolled to the next ranked athlete based on the standings of 70.3PR as of  7/17. MEN WOMEN 1 Timothy O’Donnell USA 5170 1 Leanda Cave GBR 4655 2 Richie Cunningham AUS 3295 2 Angela Naeth CAN 3760 3 Paul Amey GBR 3090 3 Magali Tisseyre CAN 3610 4 Filip Ospaly CZE 2750 4 Kelly Williamson USA 2960 5 Paul Matthews AUS 2585 5 Melissa Rollison AUS 2700 6 Maxim Kriat UKR 2555 6 Heather Jackson USA 2670 7 Joe Gambles AUS 2535 7 Michelle Wu AUS 2565 8 Alessandro Degasperi ITA 2450 8 Karin Thuerig CHE 2410 9 David Kahn … Continue reading →

The main changes in the Kona Pro Rankings this weekend after Ironman Switzerland, and 70.3′s in Muncie and Rhode Island are as follows: Leanda Cave’s third-place finish in Muncie puts her in first, taking over the spot from Angela Naeth. David Kahn’s win in Rhode Island moves him into the top 10 of the 70.3 rankings. In Ironman, Karin Theurig’s win in Switzerland moves her into the top three, behind fellow countryman Caroline Steffen and validated her slot to Kona. Ronnie Schildnecht also validated his slot and moves into the top 15. The only top female contender to still validate is Virginia Berasategui. On men’s side, the Raelert brothers still need to validate their Kona starts, along with Faris Al Sultan. Ironman Frankfurt should see this handled for both Faris and Michael Raelert, along with a boost for Australia’s Luke … Continue reading →