2012 Kona Slots in Flux
WTC has been quietly changing the number of Kona slots to 2012 races as soon as the 2011 version is over. If you are in the hunt for a slot, don't assume that 2012 will be the same as 2011. Here are the number of Kona slots that 4 races had in 2011 and now have in 2012 :
St Croix 70.3: 28 to 30 +2
California 70.3: 28 to 0 -28
IM St George: 65 to 50 -15
IM Texas: 75 to 50 -25
That's a net decrease of 66 for those 4 races. That, plus the decrease in pro slots to Kona probably covers the 2012 slots given to IM New Jersey and IM Mont Tremblant. But it will be interesting to see if they leave IMCDA, IMLP, IMLOU and IMWI alone after those races take place. I'm also wondering if the Buffalo Springs 70.3 will lose all of it's Kona slots after this weekend like the California 70.3? Makes me wonder why they support St Croix which has had falling participation as the number of 70.3s increase.
Comments
? Global strategy; attract more South Americans? Doesn't help us old guys, though. Win or go home.
Wow, nothing can be taken for granted! TX sure got impacted. This also has a impact on my view of St. George. That is on the to do list.
I think your assessments of what will happen to your targeted AG slots is likely to be real. This SUCKS in my opinion. We as smart AG competitors look for all edges to get to Kona when we select a race to try to qualify in. To change the “rules” after the fact is not right in my opinion.
We live in interesting times!
I saw that the Texas 70.3 went from 50 to 35. M40-44 got 6 slots last year (the largest) and that will probably go down to 4. While I'm in no hurry to qualify for the 70.3 WC (it may take a few years) they sure aren't making things easy. It might have made it impossible. Pretty much win, place or show for the big AG's and come in first or second for the others.
why would you be shocked about TX? They have often done that with a first time event so that it fills. Same thing they did with NY, call it the US championship and bump the number.
Lets face it, can't increase the number of races without decreasing the number of slots at each race. As there are a bunch of new races, NY, MT, TX even ST George and Louisville are "new" not to mention the foreign ones. The number of NA IM's have doubled in the last few years.
I'm not happy about it, but it is a business and if I was going to got the pro money and ag slots I would start with races in Sept and Oct that are not world championships.
The more likely scenario is they introduce new IM races and the slots go that way as opposed to increasing current IM events from 50 to whatever.
Heck, Coach P. may not have qualified at IMLP with a 5th place finish if LP only had 50 slots.
I'm not sure the ending the lottery is an option as John Collins made it a requirement when he sold the rights to continue to have a lottery.
Having moved to the new ownership I'm sure they have looked at ways to gain control over this but this is a money maker for them. How many thousands sign up for the lottery, 6 to 8 at $40 plus the passport club of another $50. That's 540k to 720K in revenue that they would have to make up somewhere and I don't think that's what the current management is all about.
As for the agrument of being a real world championship I'll leave that for others to debate. One thing I will say is the expansion is forcing those that qualify to a whole different level as discussion in the 'why are the coaches doing 30 hour thread".
Gordon
One thing that sets triathlon apart from almost every other sport (except marathons) is ability to race on the same course, at the same time, as the pro's. Take away all the lottery slots, and you lose some of that charm. Since WTC is never going to make it a strict, must qualify as a top AGer at at IM race, I like the idea of keeping one avenue open for those of us have neither (a) the ability/time to qualify; and (b) the money or compelling personal story to be given a slot. While reducing the number of lottery slots to open more qualifying slots seems fair, I would favor keeping abot 50 lottery slots open so that we can all hope to one day race there.
Besides, I remember reading that when John Collins sold the race in 1980, he specifically required the owners to reserve a few slots for ordinary people. So it is unclear whether WTC can eliminate the lottery slots altogether.
There goes my Kona dream...
Too bad for those of us who will now never qualify...but I think it is the right thing to do...making the WC a place for the true champions....
Now, if only they scrapped the charity, lottery, media and sponsor places as well....
I *think* the NET impact of this is neutral. I have noticed and heard of a few C level pros that are going back to AG racing because of this, but on the other side I know a few AGers (i.e. myself and some of my peers) that want to go pro just to get the benefits of the Ironman Pr Membership. I know that as Pro I have VERY little chance at making it to Kona, but I'm ok with that as I'm starting to be much more interested in racing more oftern than planning a year out and focusing on only one race. Overall, I think these are very small numbers of people we are talking about that are changing their status do to the ironman pro membership program.
What I think is really happening is that a lot of B/C level Pros are starting to focus on series like Rev3, Challenge, etc where they can actually make more in prize money, usually don't have to pay any entry fee at all, and don't have to deal with the WTC points system.
There has always been some AGers that really should race pro but stay in AG to get on the podium at every race as well as some guys that are Pro and really are not competing at that level. I think there will always continue to be some of each no matter what the rules are.
That's just my opinion from the small group of Pros and Competitive AGers that I stay in touch with and discuss this with.
And I love the Kona lottery. Sorry the idea that only "pros" and AG winners should be allowed to race there is silly to me. Most of the people I know who have gotten lottery slots are people that love the sport and have been involved in it for some time (it's quite the $$$ commitment for someone to do off the cuff). I think one of the best things about triathlon is that you race the same course on the same day as people that are considered the best.