By Raymond Britt -- To get to Kona, you need to qualify, and to qualify you need to win one of the very few Kona slots in your age group. For the 2012 season, we estimate 1662 slots are available from 28 Ironman races and 7 Ironman 70.3 races. See Ironman Qualifiers and Slots per Race 2011-2012.

Kona Slots Ironman Frankfurt 2019 Dates

Kona Slots Ironman Frankfurt 2019 2020

One more note: Anyone selected in the lottery must complete an IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 event within one year of Kona to validate their slot. Keep in mind: The general lottery is a longshot. In the past, IRONMAN has disclosed that more than 7,000 athletes apply for the IRONMAN lottery each year. So about 98 percent won't get picked. It was only Watkinson’s second Ironman race, having placed fourth at Ironman Frankfurt in 2019 on debut, but she executed the race in a calm, and calculated manner, perhaps reflecting years of experience in the sport, rather than specific iron-distance knowledge. In the event an XC Age Division consists of more than nine (9) race day starters, an additional Kona slot will be added, totaling two (2) slots for that Division. The second slot will be awarded to the XC athlete that has the second best percentile finish (vs. Starters in their traditional age group). There are 85 world championships slots available for men and 85 for women. For Kona qualifying, there is one slot per gender at most races, two at regional championships, plus extra “floating slots” allocated to specific races, usually regional champions or bigger races Ironman chooses. Olympian Sarah True carried off the Ironman European Championship course in about 100-degree heat in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday after 9 hours of racing. She was leading by 7 minutes with a kilometer to go in the marathon, after a 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike. Pic.twitter.com/Tc0iNEzylf — Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) July 1, 2019.

The number of slots per race is just the starting point. The slots are then distributed across age groups. This table presents the slot allocation for Ironman races Kona 2010.
Also see our Analysis of Kona Qualifying Times for each age group and race listed here and our Allocation of Kona Slots by Event and Age Group graphs.
For advice and guidance, see our Complete Qualifying for Kona Coverage, and our book Qualifying for Kona.

The Ironman Kona World Championships — a grueling 140.6-mile triathlon in sweltering Hawaii — stream live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app on Saturday.

A year after shattering course records, German Patrick Lange and Swiss Daniela Ryf defend their world titles.

The men’s race starts at 6:25 a.m. local time (12:25 p.m. ET) with the 2.4-mile swim. The women start in Kailua Bay water five minutes later. The swim is followed by a 112-mile bike on the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway and then a marathon to the Kona finish line.

The fastest triathletes will complete the course in eight hours.

NBCSN coverage runs from noon-2 p.m. ET. NBC and NBCSN will also have occasional check-ins throughout the afternoon, culminating with finish coverage around 8:30 p.m. ET.

On Sunday, NBCSN will air a recap show from 2-3 p.m. ET.

WATCH LIVE: Ironman Kona World Championships, 12:25 p.m. ET — STREAM LINK

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