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 the men’s side, Faris Al-Sultan not only validated his Kona slot but moved up over 30 places to fourth in the KPR. A solid race by Luke McKenzie, who placed sixth, put him firmly into qualifying territory as well. The only top male athletes still to validate their starts at the world championships in October are the Raelert Brothers. Michael Raelert’s withdrawal from Frankfurt this weekend leaves him outside of the top 40, with July qualifying upcoming.

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.

*This list does not include Automatic Qualifiers

MEN:

WOMEN:

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 McKenzie—who currently sits right on the top 50 qualifying edge.

This past weekend saw some significant changes in the Kona Pro Rankings. In the men’s field, Marino Vanhoenacker set a new Ironman world record in Austria and thus moves up into fourth place in front of Luke Bell. Of the current top five, Bell is scheduled to race at the end of July in Lake Placid. Balzas Csoke from Hungary won at Ironman Korea, and moved from outside the top 50 all the way up to 17th. Cameron Brown, with his Korea 70.3 win, moved into the top 25. He still has Ironman Frankfurt on his schedule, which is the European Championship and thus a high scoring event (4000 points are up for grabs).

In the women’s field, Mary Beth Ellis (USA) in the fastest ever debut Ironman in Austria scored 2000 points. This moves her just outside the top 30 in the womens KPR and within striking distance of qualifying for Kona. Joanna Lawn picked up an additional 750 points with her win at Korea 70.3, which puts her into the top 25. Kate Bevilaqua, with her win at Ironman Korea continues to secure her place in the top 15 as one of the most consistent IM athletes. Virginia Berasategui’s DNF in Austria will prove a setback to her validating her Kona slot.

This past weekend, Ironman Coeur d’Alene, France, and Buffalo Springs 70.3 shifted the blocks around. After winning Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs in Texas, Raynard Tissink moved into second in the Kona Pro Rankings, placing him just outside the top 50 in the 70.3 category. A few more 70.3 scores should put him firmly into 70.3 qualifying, should he be wanting to race the worlds in Vegas.

From his win in Coeur d’Alene, Australian Craig Alexander moves into the top 10, validating his Kona start after a few months of injury set him back. This leaves just the Raelert brothers and Marino van Hoenacker as last year’s top contenders who still must validate their world championship start.

At Ironman France, Frederick Van Lierde moved up over 10 spots with his win at IM France, putting him in the 11th slot on the Kona Pro Rankings.

In the women’s field, Great Britain’s Julie Dibens moved into fourth with her win at Coeur d’Alene. She, along with Caitlin Snow who took second, both validated their Kona start for 2011. The only top Kona finishers remaining to validate their slots in the women’s field are Virginia Berasategui and Karin Theurig.

Silvia Felt moved all the way from 52nd, well into a qualifying spot at 23rd. Kelley Williamson continues to be the top American; her win at Buffalo Springs makes no change to her rankings total, but it does move her up to sixth in the 70.3 category.