Four IRONMAN World Champions will be on the starting line in Kona

La star list for the World Championship HOMBRE DE HIERRO in Kona, Hawaii, has been announced, and the men's field promises to offer an exciting race.

This coming October 26, more than 50 professional athletes will compete for the prize pool of $375.000, with the winner taking $125.000.

The favourites in the fight for the title

Sam Laidlow, the reigning IRONMAN world champion, tops the list. The Frenchman won last year in Nice and finished second in the 2022 race in Kona, behind the Norwegian Gustav Iden and ahead of his compatriot Kristian Blummenfelt, who had won the 2021 world championship edition (held in May 2022 in St. George, Utah).

Laidlow has shown excellent form in recent months, winning the race T100 London in July and obtaining second place in T100 Ibiza.

Gustav Iden, who won IRONMAN 70.3 world titles in 2019 and 2021 in addition to his victory at Kona 2022, has been injured for much of the past two years.

However, he is returning to his best level, having won the Challenge Turku in July and recently achieving second place behind Blummenfelt at the Challenge Samarkand.

For its part, Kristian Blummenfelt bounced back from a disappointing Olympics to take victory in the IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt two weeks later.

The fourth world champion in the competition is the German Patrick Lange, winner in Kona in 2017 and 2018. Lange finished second behind laidlow in Nice last year and won the IRONMAN North American Championship in Texas in May.

Podium contenders

These four world champions will have their work cut out for them, as the field also includes several title contenders.

Among them are the Danish Magnus ditlev (third last year in Nice), the American Rudy von berg (fourth last year) and the French Leon chevalier, who completed the top five in Nice.

Other podium contenders include American Matt Hanson, who currently leads the IRONMAN Professional Series, and his compatriot Trevor foleyWinner of IRONMAN Lake Placid.

Canadian Lionel Sanders, who won the IRONMAN Canada In August, he will look to improve on his two second places in the world championship (2017 in Kona and 2022 in St. George).

The SpanishI Antonio Benito, our only representative will have the number 18.

The complete list of professionals