Last Chance for Kona pros
Last weekend’s Kona Pro Rankings points bonanza at Ironman Mt. Tremblant and the P-2000 rated Ironman Sweden seems to have filled up 7 places for pro women and 10 places for pro men left on the Ironman World Championship starting line. But there a few competitors still on the bubble who might get overtaken and bumped by a few triathletes competing at Ironman Canada, Ironman 70.3 Brazil and Ironman Louisville this weekend — the final races counting toward the Kona Pro Rankings for 2013.
As reported, the Kona Pro Qualifying system is divided in two segments. Up to July 28, the first 28 pro women and 40 pro men in KPR points – plus Ironman, Ironman 70.3 and the 5i50 champions who also join the field via automatic qualification – have already made the field.
In the second phase which also includes additional results from August events up to the 28th, an additional 7 women and 10 men will be added to the final Ironman World Championship professional field in addition to the 31 women and 43 men who have already punched their tickets to the Big Show on the Big Island.
After dramatic finishes at Mt. Tremblant and Sweden last weekend, here are the recent additions to the Kona Pro start list. Please keep in mind that the athletes on the bottom of this list are vulnerable to last chance heroics by some athletes at Ironman Canada and Ironman 70.3 Brazil. While one man at Louisville made the Kona pro field on July 28, no one else at that race is within range.
Pro Women who have made the cut – so far
Rebekah Keat (KPR Rank 7th with 7,680 points) — 2nd at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 3,520 points.
Liz Blatchford (KPR 12th with 6,730 points) – 4th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 2,800 points.
Britta Martin (KPR 15th with 6,210 points) – 3rd at IM Sweden earned 1,600 points
Jennie Hansen (KPR 22nd with 5,870 points) – 6th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 2,240 points
Anja Beranek (KPR 24th with 5,750 points) – 3rd at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 3,120 points
Sarah Piampiano (KPR 26th with 5,690 points) – 11th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 1,760 points
Eva Nystrom (KPR 29th with 5,400 points) – 2nd at IM Sweden earned 1,760 points
Just missing the cut was Kimberly Schwabenbauer, who made a heroic effort at Ironman Mt. Tremblant, finishing with the fastest run of the day (3:03:45) and placing 5th overall woman. She ended up with 5,630 KPR points – 40 points behind Eva Nystrom and 5:18 behind 4th place Liz Blatchford.
Pro men who made the cut – so far
Luke Bell (KPR rank 11th with 6,320 points) — 1st at Mt. Tremblant earned 4,000 points.
Brandon Marsh (KPR 16th with 5,830 points) — 2nd at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 3,520 points
Bert Jammaer (KPR 18th with 5,560 points) — 3rd at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 3,120 points
Stefan Schmid (KPR 23rd with 5,140 points) – 6th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 2,240 points
David Plese (KPR 25th with 5,060 points) – 2nd at IM Sweden earned 1,760 points
Daniel Halksworth (KPR 29th with 4,820 points) — 4th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 2,800 points
Romain Guillaume (KPR 31st with 4,715 points) – 5th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 2,400 points
Pedro Gomes (KPR 32nd with 4,620 points) – 1st at IM Sweden earned 2,000 points
Jozsef Major (KPR 36th with 4,390 points) – 14th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 1,120 points
Mike Schifferle (KPR 39th with 4320 points) – 13th at IM Mt. Tremblant earned 960 points
Just missing the cut was Dominik Berger of Austria who garnered 1,920 points with an 8th place finish at IM Mt. Tremblant — which left him 40 points behind the 10th man on the August pro men’s qualifier list, Mike Schifferle. Other who fell just short include Jarmo Hast of Finland whose 4th place at IM Sweden left him 120 points short of Schifferle, and Paul Ambrose of Australia, whose 7th at Mt. Tremblant left him 330 points behind the Schifferle.
Last chance contenders
While seven Ironman Mt. Tremblant finishers are listed on the Ironman Canada pro start list, it would be safe to assume they entered it in case they DNF’d at Mt. Tremblant. As they all went through the grind at Mt. Tremblant, it is highly unlikely that any of them will be starting another tough Ironman race a week later to scramble for points to make the cut. That is, unless they are a very few points down and a simple finish would vault them into the Kona pro field. Plus we are not completely certain that the start lists in either of these 3 races are completely accurate. The hypothetical scenarios are based on information we have currently.
Here is a list of the potential contenders this weekend to make the Kona pro field – followed by some with a theoretical chance if they are willing to punish themselves two weeks in a row.
Bruno Clerbout of Belgium will be racing Ironman Canada fresh and this 4th place finisher at Ironman Nice needs to finish 10th or better at Whistler (960 points) to pass Mike Schifferle.
Jeremy Jurkiewicz of France will be racing Ironman 70.3 Brazil and needs to win (750 points) to pass Schifferle.
Those who are surely exhausted from finishing Ironman Mt. Tremblant but who have a theoretical chance of advancing to Kona if they are desperate enough to try two Ironman races in eight days include:
Dominik Berger finished 8th at Mt. Tremblant and needs just 40 points. The Austrian could garner 400-plus with a 15th or better finish at Whistler.
Mike Schifferle of Switzerland is in after finishing 13th at Mt. Tremblant but he’s on the bubble and may feel he needs to race Ironman Canada to secure his spot.
Paul Amey of Great Britain finished 11th at Ironman Mt. Tremblant and needs 9th or better at Ironman Canada to surpass Schifferle.
Oleysa Prystayko of the Ukraine finished 12th at Ironman Mt. Tremblant and needs 3rd or better at Ironman Canada to make the Kona field.
Good luck!
