2016 Ironman Melbourne Cancelled
With the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix moving to the same weekend a solution could not be found.
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Ironman announced today that the 2016 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Melbourne has been cancelled. The race was scheduled to take place on March 20, 2016, but with the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix—also set to take place in Melbourne—moving to the same weekend a solution could not be found.
“Holding both events on the same day was explored; however, the impact on the city, surrounding communities, roads and emergency services was not manageable for an event to be delivered in Melbourne to the level required for our athletes’ safety and satisfaction,” said CEO for Ironman Asia-Pacific, Geoff Meyer. “Furthermore, Ironman athletes would be affected by increased travel expenses over these high demand dates in Melbourne.”
“For the past four years we have delivered a truly outstanding and world-class event that has brought close to 10,000 athletes from across the globe to the city of Melbourne. We sincerely thank the Victorian Government and all of our event partners for their involvement during this period,” Meyer added. “This was not an easy decision as the event has become a much loved one by athletes and the Ironman community all over the world.”
All athletes registered for the 2016 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne will be contacted with race transfer and race refund options. Of the 75 slots available from this race for the 2016 Ironman World Championship, 65 will be distributed across Cairns Airport Ironman Cairns (June 12, 2016), Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand (March 5, 2016) and Ironman Australia Port Macquarie (May 1, 2016); the remaining 10 slots will be allocated among athletes who transfer into another race.
The release does not say whether or not the race will attempt to continue in 2017. Organizers say that the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship status—which provides professionals with automatic Kona qualifying opportunities as well as higher than usual Kona Pro Rankings points—will be designated to a to-be-determined location.
Learn more at Ironman.com/melbourne.