Why Chattanooga Is the Best Fit For 70.3 Worlds in 2027

IRONMAN has had one hell of a time with its respective world championship events over the last year, hasn’t it?

It started off with a huge reversal of course — the IRONMAN World Championship would return to a single-day affair in Kona, a year earlier than the contract expiration with Nice, France. To make up for it, IRONMAN announced that they’d host two years of the 70.3 World Championships in Nice, with this year and the 2028 edition being awarded. We also had the 2029 championships awarded to Oman as part of a broader sponsorship package. Then we had all the drama with the mayoral election in Nice, and the mayor “cancelling” all events, including this year’s 70.3 Worlds race, before IRONMAN immediately waived fees to ensure the race would go forward.

And then there’s the tale of next year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Long rumored to be taking place in North America, speculation ran rampant as to location. It was presumed that it would be Oceanside, up until the United States began its military conflict with Iran. There were then multiple other locations floated; would it still be in California? Back to Canada and Mont Tremblant? A new location in its entirety? And with the 2027 qualification cycle looming, it felt like an answer was inevitably close.

Sometimes, the answer is staring right in front of you. And we all probably should have figured it out.

After all, it’s been ten years since Chattanooga first hosted the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. It was the first time that we had a two-day world championship. By all accounts, it was extremely successful. It laid the foundational work that has led to now 10 years of having separate men’s and women’s races for 70.3 worlds. And it was part of what pushed IRONMAN, after the backlog of qualification coming out of COVID, to try to have two days in Kona (which, in turn, led to the attempted split IRONMAN World Championship in two locations).

To be clear, though, this shouldn’t be considered a nostalgia play. Nor should it be seen as an option of last resort. No, Chattanooga is a world-class destination with a world-class course available that will challenge the best athletes that decide to register for it.

There’s a few different factors that make Chattanooga the right choice for a North American hosted 70.3 World Championships.

The Course is Hard

If the original few editions of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taught us anything, it’s this: you need a world championship caliber course in order to have a compelling reason to go. A pancake flat course in Clearwater, Florida was not it. And it showed; registrations were lackluster compared to that of Kona.

It wasn’t until the race started moving that we began to see athletes follow 70.3 Worlds in a way similar to that of Kona. You need to have something above and beyond the world championship label in order for it to be effective. Course difficulty seemed to unlock something in 70.3 Worlds, both for professionals and age group racers. The last few editions have had this in spades.

Chattanooga, too, offers a true test to athletes. It’s especially true if, like the 2017 edition, the swim includes an up-river section. The regular version of the race, hosted each spring, features a so-called “paper bag” swim — as in, you could float your way to meeting the swim cutoff as the current is that helpful. But for the 2017 World Championship race, it included having to swim into that same current, before turning downriver. That alone would challenge athletes.

But Chattanooga also has something that is akin to other classic 70.3 Worlds locations: hills. The bike and run courses here are simply hard. It’s an unrelenting, rolling course that never truly lets you settle in. Assuming that the course will be similar to that of what we’ve seen before, it includes a three mile long climb in the final miles, ensuring that you’ll see carnage heading into the run course.

And that run course isn’t a joke, either. There’s multiple trips up and over the bridge into North Chattanooga, with steep downs and climbs to sap energy out of legs. It’s bound to feature plenty of late race drama, just as the 2017 edition of the race did, where Javier Gomez took down Ben Kanute late in the race to claim his second IRONMAN 70.3 World title — and Daniela Ryf dominated.

The Conditions Should Be Perfect to Test Kona Dreams

Chattanooga, in late summer, is going to be hot. As in, average temperatures in the mid 90s with plenty of humidity. Between the temperatures and the scheduling, where the race is going to be roughly eight weeks before the IRONMAN World Championships, it should be a near perfect test of heat acclimation and training methodology heading into Kona.

My bold prediction: Chattanooga would be likely to give us our first double world champion since Daniela Ryf in 2018. (The last man to pull off the double: Jan Frodeno in 2015). Between the likely weather, course, and timing, it all feels like we’re in line for it. (And hey, it happened the last time 70.3 Worlds were here, too, with Ryf sweeping the two titles.)

The Endurance Sports Community is Deep Here

Chattanooga is a wealth of endurance sports community. There’s a sizable triathlon club here, and with Atlanta just short hop away, it taps well into the Georgia community, too. There are multiple events that take place in this area, and they’re quite well supported. Triathlon is big here.

But there’s also a big part of our industry located here, too. American Bicycle Group’s headquarters are right here in Chattanooga. The company behind Quintana Roo, Litespeed, and Obed has been located in Tennessee for a long-time. It’s part of the fabric of the community. And it’s a rare opportunity to marry our racing culture with one of the businesses that is the lifeblood of our sport. After all, without Quintana Roo (and Dan Empfield), there’s no triathlon specific wetsuit or bike.

It’s a great way to honor our sport’s legacy and heritage. My guess is that the brand activations will be deep, and QR/ABG will be looking to continue their march up the age-group gear count ranks.

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