IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 2022: Date, time and how to watch live – Elite News
They wait three years for the IRONMAN World Championship to return to Kona… and then, less than three weeks later, the Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship is back. October 2022, quite a month for endurance triathlon.
We’re returning to a venue that has hosted both championship events in one season – St. George, Utah – where also the 2021 winning editions of Lucy Charles-Barclay and Gustav Iden were so dominant.
Of course, Iden is now also the IRONMAN World Champion and with LCB finishing second in Kona, pending recovery from that effort, both have recent form on their side, suggesting it will not be an easy task for anyone to achieve theirs remove title.
Dates and Start Times for IM 70.3 Worlds 2022
Last September’s events in Utah all took place in one day, but this year we’re returning to the more typical IRONMAN 70.3 championship setup of a two-day event.
That The women’s pro race will take place on Friday 28th Octoberwith the professional men’s races on Saturday 29th October.
On both days, the pro races start at 07:30 local time (mountain time). This is 0930 Eastern / 0630 Pacific. Across the pond, that’s 2:30pm UK / 3:30pm BST.
Live coverage of the races will be available on Outside TV, which was the 2022 IRONMAN partner for its 70.3 events.
As always, the IRONMAN Tracker app on your mobile device is the essential and highly recommended support if you want to dive deep into the data besides watching.
Pro women
Lucy Charles Barclay will of course wear the No 1 shirt as the defending champion and if she can show anything similar to last year’s fairly flawless performance she will be incredibly difficult to beat. She then won by more than eight minutes, fastest in the swim, bike and run. It was one of the greatest triathlon achievements of all time.
Given her injury earlier in the season, it’s quite a comeback story that she’s here at all. That she’s since won the World Triathlon Long Distance title and finished second in Kona tells you she’s not returning to Utah just to even the numbers.
third last year, Taylor Knibb (USA) will compete again. Taylor has had her own injury woes as well, but second-place finish at the PTO US Open suggests she’s hopefully over that now. As one of the strongest riders in the sport, she will want to repeat the Dallas swim and step out alongside the defending champion. Probably overlooked but LCB destroyed the field in the water last year and was clean for almost a minute and a half before even starting the bike. Give her that head start at your own risk.
One of the names we were hoping to see last year was Flora Duffy. The Olympic, Commonwealth and World Triathlon Champion, who has always been a force in the sport, appears, on paper at least, to have all the skills to translate her drafting achievements into the 70.3 format. The Collins Cup and PTO US Open haven’t quite reached that level yet – with a more focused preparation (excluding WTCS Cagliari) don’t be surprised if she ups her game.
Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR), Paula Findley (CAN) and Holly Lawrence (GBR) are among the other race favourites. We’ll bring you more thoughts on how the race might play out in the coming days.
pro men
Eight of the top ten athletes from 2021 are returning, missing only Daniel Bækkegård (DEN) and Sam Appleton (AUS), who finished third and ninth.
The focus is of course – as with Mush in the last 18 months – on the Norwegian hype Train, Gustav Ident and Christian Blumenfelt. Iden is aiming for a third consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 World Title. In truth, you can almost count it as a four in my eyes, as the 2020 PTO Championship at Challenge Daytona was, in all but name, the “championship” race of this pandemic-hit year.
Both know St George well now and both have won there too. Will it be another Bergen win?
Sam Lang (USA) will definitely play a big role in this race. He skipped Kona to go all-in in an event he knows well and took the silver medal last September. “I’m charged and fired up and things are looking really good,” he said last week. Will it be enough to bring Gustav’s lucky hat down for good?!
Magnus Ditlev (DEN)’s cycling power will likely be seen in Utah as well. Denmark, who finished second at the PTO US Open with Long sprinting in the final hundred meters, will want to take a bit of the limelight from their Nordic neighbors.
The Course: St. George, Utah
A 1.9km swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir starts competitors – a single lap course finishes next to the start line, with T1 waiting for the field on shore.
A 90.1 km technical bike course takes participants around the southern end of Sand Hollow Reservoir before turning north and then west towards the more technical portion of the course.
The final 30km of the bike starts with a relatively steep climb (Snow Canyon) of about 1000ft over 10km before dropping back down to T2 on the final 20km of the bike.
The 21.1km run takes athletes on a two-lap course with two 500-foot climbs and descents to test the legs in the final stages.
IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds prize money
The 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship prize pool totals $350,000, with winners each taking home $50,000 for their efforts.
The price breakdown is as follows:
- $50,000
- $25,000
- $18,000
- $12,000
- $10,000
- $8,500
- $8,000
- $7,500
- $7,000
- $6,500
- $6,000
- $5,500
- $4,500
- $3,500
- $3,000
The recent winners of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship
PRO women
- 2021 – Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
- 2020 – postponed
- 2019 – Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- 2018 – Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- 2017 – Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- 2016 – Holly Lawrence (GBR)
- 2015 – Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- 2014 – Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- 2013 – Melissa Hauschildt (AUS)
- 2012 – Leandra Cave (GBR)
- 2011 – Melissa Rollison (AUS)
PER men
- 2021 – Gustav Iden (NOR)
- 2020 – postponed
- 2019 – Gustav Iden (NOR)
- 2018 – Jan Frodeno (GER)
- 2017 – Javier Gomez (ESP)
- 2016 – Tim Reed (AUS)
- 2015 – Jan Frodeno (GER)
- 2014 – Javier Gomez (ESP)
- 2013 – Sebastian Kienle (GER)
- 2012 – Sebastian Kienle (GER)
- 2011 – Craig Alexander (AUS)