Approximately 2,500 of the world’s top triathletes, including 193 Australian athletes, are registered to compete in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the most iconic one-day endurance event in the world — the 2019 Vega IRONMAN® World Championship. IRONMAN, a Wanda Sports Group company, will celebrate its `Ohana – a Hawaiian word that represents a specially bonded extended family – during the 2019 event as it hosts athletes from 75 countries, regions and territories around the world.

“We are incredibly proud of the highly competitive nature of this year’s athlete field, as we will see nearly 2,500 competitors from around the globe toe the starting line on Saturday,” said Andrew Messick, President & Chief Executive Officer of The IRONMAN Group. “We relish the opportunity to bring thousands of athletes, as well as their family and supporters, to the shores of Kailua-Kona and embrace them as part of our `ohana. It is an honor to be able to pay tribute to all of the members of our extended family as we celebrate our Hawaiian heritage.”
 
The United States of America is the most represented nation with 659 registered athletes, followed by Germany (279), Australia (193), United Kingdom (162) and Canada (99). Other athletes from countries as far as Bermuda, Iceland, Lebanon, and the Saudi Arabia are traveling from around the globe for their shot at the world championship.

Additional historical facts and stats on the field competing in the 2019 Vega IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i:  
• 73 percent of registered participants (1,783 athletes) are male
• 27 percent of registered participants (669 athletes) are female
• 44 is the average age of all registrants
• Hiromu Inada (JPN) is the oldest male participant at 86, while Valentin Carboniero (DEN) is the youngest at 20
• Dexter Yeats (USA) is the oldest female participant at 74, while Pauline Anouk Chloé Dauvergne (FRA) is the youngest at 18
• 6 athletes will be celebrating their birthdays on event weekend
• 46 U.S. states are accounted for, with the greatest number hailing from California (92), Texas (61), Hawai`i (57), Colorado (52) and Florida (50).
• Approximately 95,000 registered athletes compete in IRONMAN races each year
• 1,512 athletes racing in this year’s Vega IRONMAN World Championship are IRONMAN All World Athletes™ - roughly 62% of the athletes racing represent the top 10% of age group athletes in the world
• 10 new IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race locations were established in 2019; - (New IRONMAN triathlons in Ireland, Spain (Vitoria); New IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons in Thailand, India, Oman, Greece, Morocco, France (Les Sables), Italy (Cervia) and USA (Connecticut, Michigan, Virginia),
• More than 5,000 volunteers will help make the Vega IRONMAN World Championship a success

The 2019 Vega IRONMAN World Championship will enjoy 20 hours of comprehensive live race-day coverage globally via IRONMAN Now™ on Facebook Watch (www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow). This year’s Vega IRONMAN World Championship live coverage continues to give viewers a front row seat to everything from the early morning body marking to the final hour finish-line celebration. Last year’s coverage had nearly 20 million total views on Facebook Watch with the expectation for that to grow even further in 2019.

 See the list of Australian athletes racing here.