2015 Ironman World Championship

The 2015 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on October 10, 2015 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The race was the 39th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.^[1]

Ironman World Championship
Location	Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Date	October 10, 2015
Champions
Men	Jan Frodeno
Women	Daniela Ryf
← 2014 2016 →

Championship results

Men

Rank	Time (h:mm:ss)	Name	Country	Split times (h:mm:ss / m:ss)
				Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
	8:14:40	Jan Frodeno	Germany	50:50	1:51	4:27:27	2:11	2:52:21
	8:17:43	Andreas Raelert	Germany	52:24	1:56	4:30:52	2:29	2:50:02
	8:18:50	Timothy O'Donnell	United States	52:24	2:01	4:26:13	2:26	2:55:46
4	8:21:25	Andy Potts	United States	50:56	2:11	4:32:41	2:26	2:53:45
5	8:23:09	Tyler Butterfield	Bermuda	52:33	2:01	4:29:35	2:41	2:56:19
6	8:25:05	Cyril Viennot	France	52:35	2:19	4:34:27	2:39	2:53:05
7	8:28:10	Eneko Llanos	Spain	52:36	2:15	4:26:56	2:13	3:04:10
8	8:29:43	Sebastian Kienle	Germany	52:36	2:34	4:25:53	2:32	3:06:08
9	8:30:13	Brent McMahon	Canada	52:26	1:51	4:27:51	2:03	3:06:02
10	8:31:43	Boris Stein	Germany	57:27	2:11	4:30:48	2:29	2:58:48
Source:[2]

Women

Rank	Time (h:mm:ss)	Name	Country	Split times (h:mm:ss / m:ss)
				Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
	8:57:57	Daniela Ryf	Switzerland	56:14	2:10	4:50:46	2:10	3:06:37
	9:10:59	Rachel Joyce	United Kingdom	56:11	2:15	5:01:29	2:22	3:08:42
	9:14:52	Liz Blatchford	United Kingdom	56:13	2:07	5:07:25	2:42	3:06:25
4	9:18:50	Michelle Vesterby	Denmark	56:11	1:58	5:00:41	2:46	3:17:14
5	9:21:45	Heather Jackson	United States	1:04:36	2:13	5:04:43	2:20	3:07:53
6	9:23:50	Susie Cheetham	United Kingdom	57:39	2:08	5:14:33	2:35	3:06:55
7	9:24:32	Sarah Piampiano	United States	1:10:01	2:47	5:02:28	2:43	3:06:33
8	9:25:41	Camilla Pedersen	Denmark	56:14	2:16	4:59:17	2:31	3:25:23
9	9:27:54	Caroline Steffen	Switzerland	56:16	2:05	5:10:53	3:13	3:15:27
10	9:28:36	Lucy Gossage	United Kingdom	1:05:08	2:10	5:02:40	2:47	3:15:51
Source:[2]

Qualification

The division of athletes was divided into professional, age group, physically challenged, and hand cycle divisions.^[3]

For entry into the 2015 World Championship race professional triathletes qualified for the championship through a point system. Points were earned by competing in WTC sanctioned Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events throughout the qualifying year. For the 2015 championship race that period was August 30, 2014 to August 23, 2015. The top 50 male and top 35 female pros in points at the end of the qualifying year qualify to race in Kona. An athlete's five highest scoring races were counted in the point totals. At least one Ironman race must have been completed and only three Ironman 70.3 races count towards an athlete's overall point total. Prior champions of a WTC Championship received an automatic entry for the Championship race for a period of five years after their last championship performance provided that they competed in at least one full-distance Ironman race during the qualifying year. Additionally, winners of the five regional Ironman championships received automatic qualification into the 2015 Ironman Championship. All automatic entries awarded did not count toward the number of available qualifying spots.^[4][5] The available prize money to professional triathletes for qualifying races ranges from $25,000 to $150,000, depending on the event.^[1]

Amateur athletes could qualify through a single performance at an Ironman event or at the Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau event. Slots were allocated to each amateur 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.^[3] This qualifying year marked a large de-emphasis on using selected Ironman 70.3 series races as an avenue for amateur athletes to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. The change was made to accommodate for the increased number of qualifying slots created from the newly added full Ironman events.^[6]

Other means of entry into the championship race could also be obtained through a random allocation lottery, through Ironman's Legacy program, or through the Ironman's charitable eBay auction. Handcycle competitors could qualify at Ironman Cairns (one male/one female), Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg (one male/one female) and Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake (two male/one female)^[3]

Illegal lottery

According to a sworn complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, Ironman illegally charged athletes for a chance to win the opportunity to compete in the Ironman World Championship.^[7][8] According to Florida law, the state where the World Triathlon Corporation resides, it is illegal to set up and charge for a lottery.^[9] Because WTC charged a $50 fee to enter the lottery, instead of giving away the opportunity to win a slot at the championships, they were in violation of this law.^[10] Following the complaint WTC cooperated with the United States Attorneys office and the FBI's investigation of the matter and agreed to forfeit $2,761,910, the amount collected from the lottery since October 24, 2012.^[7][11]

Winners of the 2015 lottery were notified on March 17, 2015, prior to the announcement of the complaint.^[8] WTC stated that these winners would be unaffected by this decision and that their slots for the upcoming championship race would be honored.^[12]

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 at 9 Ironman events and 11 Ironman 70.3 events in 2015, all occurring within North America. Those Ironman races with no points or prize purse offered include: Ironman Boulder, Louisville, Wisconsin, Maryland, Lake Tahoe, Florida, Muskoka, Los Cabos and Lake Placid. The majority of these listed events occur after the qualifying period has ended, August, and near the date of the annual Championship event in October. This would also mark the first time since 1985 that an Ironman race will not offer a prize purse.^[13] For the 2015 Ironman Championship qualifying period this affects Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Boulder.^[14]

Qualifying Ironman races

Date	Event	Location
Sep 7, 2014	Ironman Wisconsin	Madison, Wisconsin
Sep 14, 2014	Ironman Wales	Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Sep 21, 2014	Ironman Lake Tahoe*	Lake Tahoe, California
Sep 27, 2014	Ironman Malaysia	Langkawi, Malaysia
Sep 27, 2014	Ironman Mallorca	Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain
Sep 28, 2014	Ironman Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Oct 5, 2014	Ironman Barcelona	Barcelona, Spain
Oct 11, 2014	Ironman World Championship	Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Nov 1, 2014	Ironman Florida	Panama City Beach, Florida
Nov 9, 2014	Ironman Fortaleza	Fortaleza, Brazil
Nov 16, 2014	Ironman Arizona	Tempe, Arizona
Nov 30, 2014	Ironman Cozumel	Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Dec 7, 2014	Ironman Western Australia	Busselton, Western Australia
Mar 7, 2015	Ironman New Zealand	Taupō, New Zealand
Mar 22, 2015	Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship	Melbourne, Australia
Mar 29, 2015	Ironman African Championship	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Apr 12, 2015	Ironman Taiwan	Kenting, Taiwan
May 3, 2015	Ironman Australia	Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
May 16, 2015	Ironman North American Championship	The Woodlands Township, Texas
May 23, 2015	Ironman Lanzarote	Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, Spain
May 31, 2015	Ironman Latin American Championships	Florianópolis, Brazil
Jun 14, 2015	Ironman Cairns	Cairns, Australia
Jun 28, 2015	Ironman France	Nice, France
Jun 28, 2015	Ironman Austria	Klagenfurt, Austria
Jun 28, 2015	Ironman Coeur d'Alene	Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Jul 5, 2015	Ironman European Championship	Frankfurt, Germany
Jul 19, 2015	Ironman UK	Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Jul 19, 2015	Ironman Switzerland	Zürich, Switzerland
Jul 26, 2015	Ironman Lake PlacidX	Lake Placid, New York
Jul 26, 2015	Ironman Canada	Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Aug 2, 2015	Ironman Maastricht-Limburg	Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Aug 2, 2015	Ironman BoulderX	Boulder, Colorado
Aug 15, 2015	Ironman Sweden	Kalmar, Sweden
Aug 16, 2015	Ironman Mont-Tremblant	Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
August 23, 2015	Ironman Copenhagen	Copenhagen, Denmark
Aug 23, 2015	Ironman Japan	Hokkaido, Japan

*Ironman Lake Tahoe was canceled due to smoke from the King Fire.^[15]
XAmateur only competition.

Qualifying pro men Championship participants Points rank Name Country Points total 1 Jan Frodeno† 14680 2 Sebastian Kienle† 12415 3 Frederik Van Lierde† 10455 4 Ben Hoffman 9970 5 Andy Potts 9725 6 Nils Frommhold 9685 7 Tim Van Berkel 8655 8 Bart Aernouts 8310 9 Lionel Sanders 8140 10 Ronnie Schildknecht 7550 11 Cyril Viennot 7535 12 Tim Don 7430 13 Brent McMahon 7310 14 Matt Trautman 7195 15 Matt Hanson† 6990 16 Marino Vanhoenacker† 6735 17 Bas Diederen 6525 18 Tim O'Donnell 6470 19 Patrik Nilsson* 6240 20 Romain Guillaume 6200 21 Cameron Brown 6145 22 Iván Raña 5840 23 Guilherme Manocchio 5540 24 Joe Skipper 5295 25 Michael Weiss 5025 26 Eneko Llanos 4980 27 Tyler Butterfield 4965 28 Clemente Alonso McKernan 4880 29 Callum Millward 4825 30 Brad Kahlefeldt 4715 31 David McNamee 4695 32 Jeff Symonds† 4675 33 Andi Boecherer 4530 34 Andreas Raelert 4505 35 Luke McKenzie 4490 36 Boris Stein 4465 37 Dylan McNeice 4445 38 Fredrik Croneborg 4380 39 Igor Amorelli 4340 40 Denis Chevrot 4290 41 Jordan Rapp 4180 42 Christian Kramer 4165 43 Paul Ambrose 4155 44 Pedro Gomes 4090 45 Terenzo Bozzone* 4030 46 Viktor Zyemtsev 3980 47 Kyle Buckingham 3925 48 Jan Van Berkel 3895 49 Maik Twelsiek 3875 50 Victor Del Corral* 3860 51 Fraser Cartmell 3785 52 Daniel Bretscher 3745 53 Miquel Tinto 3700 54 Luke Bell 3665 55 Matt Chrabot 3630 56 Jeremy Jurkiewicz 3475 58 Justin Daerr‡ 3440 127 Pete Jacobs†* 930 † Automatic Qualifier, ‡ Roll Down Qualifier, *Declined slot/Injured Source:[16][17]

Qualifying pro women Championship participants Points rank Name Country Points total 1 Daniela Ryf† 15450 2 Jodie Swallow† 14370 3 Caroline Steffen 13055 4 Rachel Joyce 11320 5 Mirinda Carfrae† 10275 6 Julia Gajer 9905 7 Mary Beth Ellis 9515 8 Gina Crawford 9050 9 Meredith Kessler 8960 10 Yvonne van Vlerken* 8440 11 Elizabeth Lyles 8195 12 Liz Blatchford 8090 13 Angela Naeth† 7930 14 Ariane Monticeli† 7810 15 Heather Wurtele 7390 16 Lucy Gossage 7190 17 Camilla Pedersen 7055 18 Eva Wutti 6920 19 Diana Riesler 6770 20 Susie Cheetham 6400 21 Michelle Vesterby 6350 22 Amanda Stevens 6290 23 Beth Gerdes 6090 24 Heather Jackson 5385 25 Sonja Tajsich* 5360 26 Britta Martin 5340 27 Ruth Brennan-Morrey 5325 28 Leanda Cave† 5290 29 Mareen Hufe 5255 30 Lisa Hütthaler 5195 31 Haley Chura 5150 32 Annabel Luxford 5080 33 Kelly Williamson 5055 34 Dede Griesbauer 5040 35 Astrid Stienen 4840 36 Dimity-Lee Duke 4780 37 Corinne Abraham* 4725 38 Tine Deckers 4660 39 Åsa Lundström 4625 40 Shiao-yu Li 4600 41 Sarah Piampiano 4410 42 Caitlin Snow 4375 43 Sofie Goos‡ 4220 45 Laurel Wassner‡ 4060 46 Melissa Hauschildt†* 4000 † Automatic Qualifier, ‡ Roll Down Qualifier, *Declined slot/Injured Source:[17][18]

References

1. "Pro Event Registration". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
2. "2015 Results: World Championship". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
3. "Qualification FAQ". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
4. "IM Qualifying". World Triathlon Corporation. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
5. Krabel, Herbert (July 26, 2010). "2011 Kona Pro Qualification Rules". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
6. Mavis, Bethany (July 22, 2014). "How Losing Kona Slots Will Affect 70.3 Races". Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
7. "World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman) Forfeits More Than $2.7 Million in Lottery Proceeds". Federal Bureau of Investigation. May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
8. "U.S. District Court Complaint". scribd.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
9. "849.09 Lottery prohibited; exceptions". gambling-law-us.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
10. .Stein, Letitia (May 13, 2015). "Ironman triathlon ran illegal lottery for athletes: U.S. prosecutors". Reuters. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
11. Moskovitz, Diana (May 19, 2015). "Feds: Ironman Ran An Illegal Lottery And Made Millions". deadspin.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
12. "Statement from IRONMAN in response to recent DOJ decision". Ironman.com. May 13, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
13. Coombs, Danielle Sarver; Batchelor, Bob (2013). American History Through American Sports. ABC-CLIO. p. 281. ISBN 9780313379888.
14. Polloreno, Julia (August 3, 2014). "Ironman Announces Redistribution of Prize Purse Money for 2015". Competitor, Inc. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
15. Fritz, Angela; Johnson, Thomas (September 22, 2014). "Smoke from massive King Fire overtakes Lake Tahoe, cancels Ironman race". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
16. "2015 Final KPR - Men" (PDF). World Triathlon Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
17. Radde, Thorsten (September 29, 2015). "Ironman Hawaii 2015 – Always Up To Date Pro Startlist". trirating.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
18. "2015 Final KPR - Women" (PDF). World Triathlon Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2015.

External links

• Ironman website
• Professional Triathlete Qualifying Rules