IRONMAN Global Athletes’ Choice Award winners announced

IRONMAN has announced the 2024 IRONMAN® and IRONMAN® 70.3® Athletes’ Choice Awards winners, highlighting the top-scoring events in a variety of categories based on athletes’ post-event surveys from all of last year’s global IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3® races.

The IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden triathlon earned the highest honor in Overall Satisfaction, out of the more than 40 IRONMAN Series triathlons that took place around the world in 2024. The IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman triathlon in Geneva, NY, USA took top honors in Overall Satisfaction out of more than 120 IRONMAN 70.3 series events that took place globally in 2024.

Results for the 2024 Global Athletes’ Choice Awards were gathered from post event surveys sent to all athletes who completed an IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 race. Survey questions were based on a five-point satisfaction scale and encompassed multiple categories including: Best Overall Race, Best Swim Course, Best Bike Course, Best Run Course and Most Recommended Race, among others. Approximately 48,000 total survey respondents gave feedback to decide the winners for each category of IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events, marking a major accomplishment for the winning events and their host communities.

“These awards are a great way to recognize our incredible hosts, communities, and team members who work tirelessly to create inspiring experiences that are worthy of the dedication our athletes demonstrate every day on their journey to the start line. We also hope that by showcasing fan favorites these awards will inspire athletes to experience a new race in a new location, or for first timers to get into this incredible sport,” said Scott DeRue, Chief Executive Officer for The IRONMAN Group. “The award winners are a testament to the diversity of our events – whether you prefer racing in a city or being a little closer to nature in the mountains or countryside, there truly is something for everyone.”

The 2024 season saw more than 200,000 athletes register to race at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons, with the last year also seeing more younger athletes taking part in events than ever before. The 30-34 age-group was the largest category for the first time, seeing an 8% increase from 2023, and the number of athletes under 30 years old registering for an IRONMAN triathlon saw a 25% increase year over year. The United States of America had the most athletes race in the last year, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia. France saw the highest growth of athletes with a 16% increase from 2023.  Additionally, hitting the road to take part in events away from home also continues to be popular, with over 70,000 IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 entrants traveling more than 500 miles to get to their start line.

Below are the top performers in each category for the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 Global Series events:

Best Overall Race 
IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden
IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman

Best Swim Course
IRONMAN Brazil
IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz

Best Bike Course 
IRONMAN Switzerland
IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman

Best Run Course 
IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden
IRONMAN 70.3 Coeur d’Alene

Most Recommended 
IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden
IRONMAN 70.3 Bangsaen Thailand

Top-5 results of each category are listed in appendix.

In addition to these global accolades, regional fan-favorites were also identified. To view the full list of 2024 Global IRONMAN Athletes’ Choice Award results, please visit www.ironman.com/athletes-choice-2024 

Limited spots remain in many of the most popular IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons globally. Athletes are encouraged to check out open IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events globally by visiting www.ironman.com/races.

For more information on the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brand and global event series, please visit www.ironman.com