First 2015 Kona Pro Slots To Be Handed Out This Week

With the 2015 Ironman World Championship 74 days away, the first professional spots for the men and women will be handed out this week.

The Kona Pro Rankings (KPR) system was put into place in the fall of 2010 and requires professionals to be ranked against each other based on their finishes at 70.3 and Ironman events around the world. The top ranked 50 men and 35 women in the standings earn starts at the iconic race. Several athletes are considered automatic qualifiers and don’t count in the overall rankings. Athletes who have won the Ironman World Championship in the last five years earn spots in Kona, as long as they validate their start with a finish at an Ironman event in the qualifying period. New for 2015, the winners of the regional championship races (Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship, Ironman African Championship, Ironman North American Championship, Ironman Latin American Championship and the Ironman European Championship) also earned automatic Kona spots.

This week marks the end of the first qualifying period, and 40 men and 28 women, plus the automatic qualifiers, will be offered the opportunity to register given that they have validated. If a person has not validated or chooses not to accept his/her slot, it will roll down to the next eligible athlete. The remaining 17 spots (10 men and seven women) will be handed out at the end of August.

Automatic Qualifiers
Sebastian Kienle (GER), Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) and Pete Jacobs (AUS) have each won the Ironman World Championship in the last five years and have all validated with an Ironman finish. Craig Alexander and Chris McCormack (AUS) are also eligible for spots based on their Ironman World Championship wins, but they have not validated and have both said they don’t have any intention of competing this year. Canada’s Jeffrey Symonds (Ironman Asia-Pacific champion), the United States’ Matthew Hanson (Ironman North America champion), Germany’s Jan Frodeno (Ironman European champion) and Belgian’s Marino Vanhoenacker (Ironman Latin American champion) have all earned automatic qualifying spots based on their regional championship wins. Vanhoenacker said at the end of last year’s Ironman World Championship that he would not return to the Big Island to compete, but revealed after his Latin American Championship win that he has yet to make a final decision on a Kona start.

For the women, Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) and Leanda Cave (GBR) are automatic qualifiers and have validated. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) is also still an automatic qualifier based on Kona wins, but has retired from the sport and will not be competing. Australia’s Melissa Hauschildt (Ironman Asia-Pacific champion), Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow (Ironman African champion), Canada’s Angela Naeth (Ironman North American champion), Brazil’s Ariane Monticeli (Ironman Latin American champion) and Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf (Ironman European champion) all earned automatic qualifying spots.

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The Men

Three men in the top 46 (six men don’t count as part of the top 40 in terms of qualification) who have not validated are Tim Reed (AUS), Craig Alexander (AUS) and Javier Gomez (ESP). Reed is a 70.3 specialist and has not expressed interest in racing Ironman at this point in his career. Three-time Ironman world champ Alexander has said he is done competing in Kona, while reigning 70.3 world champion Gomez is focused on his 2016 Olympic campaign.

*1. Jan Frodeno GER 14,680
*2. Sebastian Kienle GER 12,415
*3. Frederik Van Lierde BEL 10,455
4. Ben Hoffman USA 9,970
5. Andy Potts USA 9,475
6. Nils Frommhold GER 9,185
7. Bart Aernouts BEL 8,310
8. Lionel Sanders CAN 8,140
9. Timothy Van Berkel AUS 8,060
10. Ronnie Schildknecht CHE 7,550
11. Tim Don GBR 7,430
12. Brent McMahon CAN 7,270
13. Matt Trautman RSA 7,195
14. Cyril Viennot FRA 6,995
*15. Matthew Hanson USA 6,990
*16. Marino Vanhoenacker BEL 6,735
17. Romain Guillaume FRA 6,200
18. Cameron Brown NZL 6,145
19. Timothy O’Donnell USA 6,065
20. Ivan Rana ESP 5,840
21. Joe Skipper GBR 5,295
22. Bas Diederen NLD 5,245
23. Michael Weiss AUT 5,025
24. Eneko Llanos ESP 4,980
25. Tyler Butterfield BMU 4,965
26. Clemente Alonso-McKernan ESP 4,880
27. Callum Millward NZL 4,825
29. David McNamee GBR 4,695
*30. Jeffrey Symonds CAN 4,675
31. Andi Böcherer GER 4,530
32. Luke Mckenzie AUS 4,450
33. Brad Kahlefeldt AUS 4,400
34. Igor Amorelli BRA 4,340
35. Dylan Mcneice NZL 4,305
36. Patrik Nilsson SWE 4,240
38. Pedro Gomes PRT 4,090
39. Christian Kramer GER 4,055
40. Viktor Zyemtsev UKR 3,980
41. Fredrik Croneborg SWE 3,975
42. Kyle Buckingham RSA 3,925
43. Jan Van Berkel SUI 3,895
44. Maik Twelsiek GER 3,875
45. Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales ESP 3,860
46. Terenzo Bozzone NZL 3,850
48. Daniel Bretscher USA 3,745
49. Miquel Tinto ESP 3,700

*********July Qualifying Cutoff*********
50. Luke Bell AUS 3,665
51. Matt Chrabot USA 3,630
52. Fraser Cartmell GBR 3,545
53. Denis Chevrot FRA 3,540
54. Guilherme Manocchio BRA 3,540
55. Jeremy Jurkiewicz FRA 3,475
56. Alessandro Degasperi ITA 3,280
57. Andreas Raelert DEU 3,230
58. Paul Ambrose AUS 3,095
59. Trevor Wurtele CAN 3,085
60. Per Bittner GER 3,030

*161. Pete Jacobs AUS 710

*Automatic Qualifier

RELATED PHOTOS: 2014 Ironman World Championship – Men’s Race

The Women

All of the top 34 women (there are six automatic qualifiers in the top 28 who do not count toward the total) have validated with an Ironman and are expected to accept their July qualifying spots. Currently Australia’s Dimity-Lee Duke, and the United States’ Dede Griesbauer and Sarah Piampiano are the first three out and will be vying for the qualifying spots in the August period.

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*1. Daniela Ryf SUI 15,450
*2. Jodie Swallow GBR 14,370
3. Caroline Steffen SUI 13,055
4. Rachel Joyce GBR 11,100
*5. Mirinda Carfrae AUS 10,275
6. Julia Gajer DEU 9,905
7. Meredith Kessler USA  8,960
8. Gina Crawford NZL 8,940
*9. Ariane Monticeli BRA 7,810
10. Elizabeth Lyles USA  7,790
11. Liz Blatchford AUS 7,770
*12. Angela Naeth CAN 7,580
13. Mary Beth Ellis USA 7,515
14. Heather Wurtele CAN 7,390
15. Lucy Gossage GBR 7,190
16. Yvonne Van Vlerken NLD 7,160
17. Eva Wutti AUT 6,920
18. Susie Cheetham GBR 6,290
19. Amanda Stevens USA 6,290
20. Diana Riesler DEU 6,270
21. Camilla Pedersen DNK 5,875
22. Beth Gerdes USA 5,795
23. Britta Martin NZL 5,340
24. Ruth Brennan Morrey USA 5,325
*25. Leanda Cave GBR 5,290
26. Heather Jackson USA 5,285
27. Mareen Hufe DEU 5,255
28. Lisa Hütthaler AUT 5,195
29. Haley Chura USA 5,150
30. Annabel Luxford AUS 5,080
31. Kelly Williamson USA 5,055
32. Corinne Abraham GBR 4,725
33. Tine Deckers BEL 4,660
34. Åsa Lundström SWE 4,625

*********July Qualifying Cutoff*********
35. Dimity-Lee Duke AUS 4,585
36. Dede Griesbauer USA 4,500
37. Sarah Piampiano USA 4,410
38. Ashley Clifford USA 4,130
*39. Melissa Hauschildt AUS 4,000
40. Laurel Wassner USA 3,760

*Automatic Qualifier

RELATED PHOTOS: 2014 Ironman World Championship – Women’s Race