IRONMAN Athletes’ Choice Awards Announced for 2024
IRONMAN has announced the results from its post-event surveys from last year’s IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events across the globe. We’ll get to the results of all that momentarily, but today’s release also highlighted some of the demographics of IRONMAN participants, which were equally as interesting.
“The 2024 season saw more than 200,000 athletes register to race at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons, with the last year also seeing more younger athletes taking part in events than ever before,” we learned from IRONMAN. “The 30-34 age-group was the largest category for the first time, seeing an 8% increase from 2023, and the number of athletes under 30 years old registering for an IRONMAN triathlon saw a 25% increase year over year.”
In terms of country participation, the USA had the most athletes compete at IRONMAN events, ahead of Great Britain, France, Germany and Australia. There was a 16% increase in French participation from 2023. And athletes travel to IRONMAN races – over 70,000 of the entrants travelled more than 500 miles (800 km) to race.
The Best(s)
OK, so what races topped the awards? About 48,000 participants completed the post-race surveys. The races considered to provide the best “Overall Event Satisfaction” were IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden and IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman. (Sadly I haven’t been to either event. I do remember the writer I assigned to cover the first race in Kalmar-Sweden in 2012 emailing me as soon as she arrived to say the venue was spectacular.)
Some other notes from the rankings:
- Despite the incredibly tough bike courses at IRONMAN Wales and IRONMAN Lanzarote, athletes still rated them among the best overall
- Athletes highly recommend IRONMAN 70.3 Bangsaen Thailand – how’s that for a destination race? Also high on the 70.3 recommend list? Michigan. (Another race I haven’t been to, but have heard nothing but great reports.)
- The traditional Welsh weather hardly dampens people’s enthusiasm for IRONMAN Wales – it’s also near the top on the recommend list.
Here’s how things tallied out with a list of the top five in each category:
| Best Overall Race (Overall Event Satisfaction) | ||
| RANK | IRONMAN | IRONMAN 70.3 |
| 1 | IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden | IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman |
| 2 | IRONMAN France | IRONMAN 70.3 Nice |
| 3 | Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns | IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy |
| 4 | IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt Austria | IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence |
| 5 | IRONMAN Wales | Itaú BBA IRONMAN 70.3 Rio de Janeiro |
| Overall Swim Experience | ||
| RANK | IRONMAN | IRONMAN 70.3 |
| 1 | Itaú BBA IRONMAN Brazil | IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz |
| 2 | Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns | Itaú BBA IRONMAN 70.3 Aracaju-Sergipe |
| 3 | Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN Florida | IRONMAN 70.3 Panam á |
| 4 | IRONMAN Malaysia | IRONMAN 70.3 Langkawi |
| 5 | IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz | IRONMAN 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities |
| Overall Bike Experience | ||
| RANK | IRONMAN | IRONMAN 70.3 |
| 1 | IRONMAN Switzerland Thun | IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman |
| 2 | IRONMAN Wales | IRONMAN 70.3 Elsinore |
| 3 | IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden | IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz |
| 4 | Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote | IRONMAN 70.3 Michigan |
| 5 | IRONMAN Maryland | IRONMAN 70.3 Bangsaen Thailand |
| Overall Run Experience | ||
| RANK | IRONMAN | IRONMAN 70.3 |
| 1 | IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden | IRONMAN 70.3 Coeur d’Alene |
| 2 | Mainova IRONMAN Frankfurt | IRONMAN 70.3 Emilia Romagna |
| 3 | Isuzu IRONMAN South Africa | IRONMAN 70.3 Oregon |
| 4 | Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas | IRONMAN 70.3 Punta del Este |
| 5 | Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns | IRONMAN 70.3 North Carolina |
| Most Recommended | ||
| RANK | IRONMAN | IRONMAN 70.3 |
| 1 | IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden | IRONMAN 70.3 Bangsaen Thailand |
| 2 | IRONMAN Wales | Itaú BBA IRONMAN 70.3 Rio de Janeiro |
| 3 | IRONMAN Copenhagen | IRONMAN 70.3 Michigan |
| 4 | 3-way Tie: ANZCO Foods IRONMAN New Zealand/Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid/ Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns | Itaú BBA IRONMAN 70.3 Aracaju-Sergipe |
| 5 | IRONMAN 70.3 San Juan | |
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IRONMANIRONMAN 70.3IRONMAN 70.3 MusselmanIRONMAN Kalmar-SwedenNotable Replies
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Participants
I’m not surprised on Musselman, it’s a fantastic race! Finger lakes are such a great region, so much to do for everyone which I’m sure factored in
I’m actually surprised how much European locations dominated the ranking. I can definitely vouch for Frankfurt, Nice, Lanzarote and a few others myself.
As I looked through the listing, I was a little surprised at some of these I’ve been to. Coeur D’alene’s run course I would not put as better than Salem’s. Salem’s run is pretty much all in a shaded nature preserve. It’s awesome.
So what the results also show me is the temperament of the athletes who race there. I have to assume there are better bike courses than Ironman Maryland, and on the 70.3 side we don’t see St. George feature at all and it’s pretty amazing. So obviously, if you have a bunch of people who don’t finish the bike because it’s too hard, or feel too beat up by it, etc. the bike isn’t going to rank as high.
What has me most intrigued is Kalmar Sweden. It’s featured so strongly, I’m wondering if the people who race it are just all super positive (highly likely) or it’s also an amazing race!
Maybe St. George was removed from the poll because its not coming back next year?
Had some friends race Kalmar (from the US) a few years back. Nothing but positive comments from them.
Looking closer at the race it looks pretty cool. I wish that run wasn’t 3 loops though, but if there’s crowds, it’s probably pretty nice to have the energy.
I did notice this on the event page:
Qualifying Slots: This event offers Men’s and Women’s Age Group Qualifying slots to the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship on 14 September 2025 in Nice, France (men), and on 11 October 2025 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai
i (women) *as well as to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France (women) and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (men).* Please note, slot allocations are subject to change and may be verified, here. So it looks like split champs are in the cards for 2026 as well?
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