IRONMAN Kona 2024: Date, start time and how to watch World Championship showdown live

The biggest men’s professional long-course race of the season takes place this Saturday (October 26) as the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona sees the sport’s superstars battle it out for glory.

It’s the second time the men and women race separately, with Nice having hosted the women a month ago where Germany’s Laura Philipp came out on top. Now it is the turn of the men on the Big Island of Hawaii and it promises to be a blockbuster.

The Norwegians are back as Gustav Iden, the record-breaking winner the last time the race was held in Kona, and Kristian Blummenfelt return with their full focus back on long-distance racing.

France’s Sam Laidlow split them on the podium two years ago and then went one better in their absence with an ultra-impressive victory in Nice last year.

Two-time winner Patrick Lange is here too – as is the brilliant Challenge Roth winner for the last three seasons, great Dane Magnus Ditlev who is the #1 ranked long-distance athlete.

Throw into the mix the box office appeal of Lionel Sanders and it’s clear we should be in for something special this weekend.

And they’ll not only take on each other but also the unique conditions in Hawaii – read on to find out why they might not be quite as extreme this year.

We have all other bases covered – including start time, how to watch the race live, a rundown on the stellar field and much more.

Date, start time and how to watch live

The men’s professional race in Kona will start at 06:25 local time on Saturday October 26 from Kailua Pier. That corresponds to 17:25 UK time, 18:25 CET. That is 12:25 on the East Coast of the United States and 09:25 on the West Coast. In Australia, then it’s 03:25 on Sunday morning in Sydney, or if you’re in New Zealand then it’s 05:25 on Sunday there.

You can watch the race live right here without leaving TRI247 via the embed below.

Live race day coverage will also be broadcast for free across multiple platforms for global viewers including  proseries.ironman.com, DAZN, and YouTube, as well as Outside TV in the U.S. and Canada, L’Équipe in France, and ZDF Online for German viewers.

And as ever, the IRONMAN Tracker app on your phone / mobile device, alongside the broadcast coverage, is your essential companion to keep up to date with all of the on-course action.

Which Pro men are racing at IMWC Kona?

Picking a favourite isn’t easy. Normally you’d think it was a near-impossible task to win long-distance racing’s biggest event less than three months on from the Olympics – but Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) doesn’t do normal!

He obliterated an 80-strong pro field to win the European Championship at IRONMAN Frankfurt just weeks after Paris and a Kona victory is about the only thing missing on his glittering CV.

The last time he was on the Big Island he had no answer to Gustav Iden (NOR) Sam Laidlow (FRA) in the closing stages of the marathon, and the Frenchman comes in as defending champion after that Nice masterclass last year.

Laidlow has arguably had a far smoother build into the 2024 IMWC than he did last year too – everything looked on point last time out at T100 Ibiza when he was the only one able to give Marten Van Riel a run for his money.

Iden rewrote the record books in Kona two years ago but the vibes from him and the Norwegian camp seem to be that another win might be out of reach just now given the challenging time he’s had on and off the race course in the last couple of years due to injury and personal tragedy.

The Kona podium from two years ago [Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for IRONMAN]

Magnus Ditlev (DEN) has to be in the equation too. He’s raised the bar with his Challenge Roth victories, especially in the last two seasons, and has unfinished business at Kona after a penalty on the bike in 2022 all but ruined his chances.

The final member of what looks a ‘big five’ is Patrick Lange (GER), the winner in Kona in both 2017 and 2018. He was runner-up in Nice last year but 2024 hasn’t really gone to plan so far.

Lionel Sanders (CAN) was runner-up to Lange in 2017 but ‘No Limits’ hasn’t got closer than that in Hawaii. However this has been his focus for much of the year and it would be a story to top them all if he can grab that elusive victory.

There were American winners in 18 of the first 19 IMWC but there hasn’t been one since 2002 and if that sequence is to be broken then Rudy von Berg looks by far the most likely candidate.

Daniel Bækkegård joins Ditlev in the Danish raiding party and there have been signs – notably at T100 London – that he is coming back to form, though it has to be said his Kona record doesn’t yet match his considerable talent.

Just the two Brits line up – two-time podium finisher David McNamee and up-and-coming Kieran Lindars, who chased home Blummenfelt in Frankfurt last time.

And watch out for New Zealand’s Braden Currie – luck hasn’t been on his side in recent times but he was third when the rescheduled IMWC was held in St George in 2022 and has shown he can thrive at Kona in the past.

The full start list and bib numbers are here.

Who’s not racing in Kona?

All eyes were on the great Jan Frodeno at the IMWC in Nice last year but that was his final race before retirement so the three-time Kona winner is a notable absentee here. Alistair Brownlee, the man who succeeded Frodeno as Olympic champion, is still racing but not at the full Ironman distance since 2022.

Brownlee’s fellow Brit Joe Skipper misses out after failing to qualify while a similar fate befell American star Sam Long despite his best efforts. France’s Arthur Horseau, sixth last year, WILL NOW RACE after a U-turn following his withdrawal last week.

The IMWC course in Kona

Triathlon GOAT contender Mark Allen told us recently that he thinks the course record could be broken this year.

There were a number of reasons for that but high up on the list is what he feels will be slightly more forgiving conditions.

He explained: “This year in particular, you have the fact that the race is two weeks later than normal. This time of year is a pivotal time of year in terms of temperature difference. Even a couple of weeks can make it a little bit cooler, a couple of weeks later can make it so that you’re further away from the windiest time of year.

“Generally earlier in October is more windy than later in October. The fastest time that I did in Kona was when the race was October 30th, this year it’s October 26th. That was probably the least windy year that I had. So all of that put together, I think that this year probably has one of the best chances of that record being broken.”

The swim course is a single out-and-back swim in Kailua Bay. It’s a wide-open, deep-water start heading out into the ocean to the turn boat and back. There are only really the swim buoys for sighting, but there are landmarks on the shoreline.

And the water is warm, hence the lack of wetsuits, but the saltwater keeps swimmers buoyant and swim skins worn over trisuits do provide additional buoyancy.

The Kona bike course is primarily an out-and-back, from the race HQ at Kailua-Kona to Hawi, along large well-maintained roads, across lava fields, with the lovely views of the ocean for company.

There is often the misconception that the Kona bike course is flat and easy. Although there are bike courses with far more elevation gain, the Kona route is far from flat. With a total elevation gain of 1,772m, and the majority of that occurs on the climb to Hawi, it is most accurate to say the course is rolling.

Magnus Ditlev on the Kona bike course in 2022 [Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for IRONMAN]

And so to the run, where the temperatures really can make a difference.

The initial 10km along Ali’i Drive offers a chance for the athletes to shake out some of the residual fatigue from the bike leg and get into a rhythm, with the first stretch alongside the coastline the flattest part of the course.

After what will likely feel like an eternity, the athletes will turn down and into the fabled ‘Energy Lab’. Completely exposed, the ‘Energy Lab’ comes at mile 16 and after 132 miles of racing is where even the best athletes can often find themselves hitting “the wall”.

The longest climb on the course comes in this section – two miles up a 1.5% gradient on ‘Airport Hill’ to get back to the Queen K and a challenging final 10km back into town.

Is it a tougher course than Nice last year? TRI247’s Jenny Lucas-Hill gives her verdict here.

What is the IRONMAN Pro Series?

For the first time ever, the IRONMAN World Championship will have a key bearing on the season-long IRONMAN Pro Series.

Comprising 20 select IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional races at 18 events globally, the best five scores count in the battle for the greatest share of the $1.7 million bonus prize purse and the IMWC race in Nice offers a maximum of 6,000 points to the winner, 1,000 more points than the other full-distance IRONMAN triathlons in the series.

Matt Hanson currently leads the way but Patrick Lange is nicely poised to make a significant step up with a big display.

And in terms of on-the-day remuneration…

Prize Money – What’s on offer?

For the men’s race in Kona, the total prize purse is $375,000, with the race winner earning $125,000 and the prize pot paying down to 15th position. It’s allocated as follows:

1st – $125,000
2nd – $65,000
3rd – $45,000
4th – $25,000
5th – $20,000
6th – $18,000
7th – $15,000
8th – $13,000
9th – $12,000
10th – $11,000
11th – $8,000
12th – $6,000
13th – $5,000
14th – $4,000
15th – $3,000