Taupō Awarded Rights to Host 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship
- Written by
- Events Capital
This will be the first time IRONMAN® holds a world championship event in New Zealand and the second time this world-class event has been hosted in the Oceania region. The event will also move from its traditional late August-early September race date and will now take place on November 28-29, 2020 with the women racing on Saturday and the men racing on Sunday. This shift will take advantage of New Zealand’s peak time of year with mild temperatures in their late spring early summer months.
“We are pleased to bring the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship back to the Oceania region,” says Andrew Messick, CEO and President of IRONMAN.
“Taupō is a unique and beautiful destination with a local community that has embraced IRONMAN events and the thousands of athletes for 20 years now. We are excited to welcome some of the world’s most elite triathletes to what will no doubt be a fantastic world championship event.”
Athletes will have the chance to qualify for the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon at over 110 global qualifying events in locations such as Austria, China, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Sweden and the Americas.
“In IRONMAN circles, this is equivalent to the Rugby World Cup or Americas Cup, so we have the opportunity to deliver something really special,” says District Events Manager Steve Giles. “This will give our community a chance to not only volunteer in an international event, but also to showcase our district like never before.”