First 69 Kona Pro Slots Handed Out
The first 69 professional triathletes will be offered the opportunity to register for the 2012 Ironman World Championship.
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The first 69 professional triathletes will be offered the opportunity to register for the 2012 Ironman World Championship, which will take place on Sturday, Oct. 13 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
On the men’s side, 40 athletes will be offered slots based on their current placement in the Kona Pro Rankings and three athletes, Craig Alexander, Chris McCormack and Greg Bennett, will be given Kona starts thanks to past victories that have earned them automatic qualification. The two biggest names left out of the men’s group are Germans Michael Raelert and Andi Boecherer. Raelert, who plans on making his Ironman World Championship debut in October, was knocked out on the final day of qualification when Great Britain’s Tom Lowe finished fifth at yesterday’s Ironman 70.3 Calgary. If one of the other athletes declines his spot, Raelert will be offered a start. Boecherer finished eighth at the 2011 Ironman World Championship, but has struggled with injury in 2012 and sits outside of qualification and without an Ironman finish. Raelert, Boecherer and others have one more month to secure their Kona spots. Ten more men will be offered Ironman World Championship slots on Aug. 27.
Twenty-five women will be given slots thanks to their current ranking, with former Ironman world champ Mirinda Carfrae earning an automatic qualification spot. The three other candidates for automatic qualification, Melissa Hauschildt, Chrissie Wellington and Lisa Norden, did not complete an Ironman during the year and have all said they won’t be competing at the Ironman World Championship. Unlike last year when she had to compete in and win three Ironmans in the summer to qualify, American Mary Beth Ellis can breathe a sigh of relief and will not have to chase points in August. Two Kona veterans, Virginia Berasategui and Belinda Granger, are currently on the outside looking in and, if their goal is to make it to Kona, will need to qualify as part of the August group. Five additional women will be given spots on Aug. 27.
Men
1. Craig Alexander AUS 13970* AQ – Has won the Ironman World Championship within the last five years, and is the reigning 70.3 and Ironman world champion.
2. Andreas Raelert DEU 8360
3. Pete Jacobs AUS 7305
4. Marino Vanhoenacker BEL 7230
5. Cameron Brown NZL 6840
6. Sebastian Kienle DEU 6590
7. Timo Bracht DEU 6000
8. Marko Albert EST
9. Faris Al-sultan DEU 5490
10. Frederik Van Lierde BEL 5480
11. Dirk Bockel LUX 5450
12. Mike Aigroz CHE 5360
13. Daniel Fontana ITA 5280
14. Petr Vabrousek CZE 5260
15. Clemente Alonso-mckernan ESP 5120
16. Ronnie Schildknecht CHE 5100
17. David Dellow AUS 5000
18. Raynard Tissink ZAF 4910
19. Joe Gambles AUS 4830
20. Viktor Zyemtsev UKR 4810
21. Eneko Llanos ESP 4800
22. Paul Matthews AUS 4725
23. Jérémy Jurkiewicz FRA 4720
24. Mike Schifferle CHE 4700
25. Paul Amey GBR 4690
26. Timothy Odonnell USA 4645
27. Andrey Lyatskiy RUS 4610
28. Luke Mckenzie AUS 4570
29. Romain Guillaume FRA 4560
30. Trevor Delsaut FRA 4420
31. Rasmus Henning DNK 4380
32. Cyril Viennot FRA 4205
33. Matthew Russell USA 4180
34. Tom Lowe GBR 4110
35. Joshua Rix AUS 4095
36. Luke Bell AUS 4070
37. Bruno Clerbout BEL 3965
38. Michael Lovato USA 3925
39. Alejandro Santamaria ESP 3920
40. Sergio Marques PRT 3880
41. Andy Potts USA 3840
77. Greg Bennett AUS 2260* AQ – Won last year’s Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship.
103. Chris Mccormack AUS 1880* AQ – Has won the Ironman World Championship within the last five years.
*July Qualifying Cutoff *
42. Michael Raelert DEU 3830
43. Jason Shortis AUS 3820
44. Aaron Farlow AUS
45. Tim Reed AUS 3705
46. Andi Boecherer DEU 3650
47. Leon Griffin AUS 3645
48. Axel Zeebroek BEL 3605
49. Clayton Fettell AUS 3510
50. Bart Aernouts BEL 3510
Women
1. Caroline Steffen CHE 13320
2. Mirinda Carfrae AUS 9995* AQ – Has won the Ironman World Championship within the last five years.
3. Leanda Cave GBR 9250
4. Rachel Joyce GBR 8910
5. Meredith Kessler USA 7440
6. Linsey Corbin USA 6820
7. Joanna Lawn NZL 6545
8. Heather Wurtele CAN 6540
9. Kelly Williamson USA 6470
10. Gina Crawford NZL 6335
11. Carrie Lester AUS 6230
12. Simone Brandli CHE 6160
13. Natascha Badmann CHE 6005
14. Chrissie Wellington GBR 6000* AQ – Has won the Ironman World Championship within the last five years, but did not validate with an Ironman finish.
15. Jessica Jacobs USA 5980
16. Caitlin Snow USA 5960
17. Anja Beranek DEU 5865
18. Sofie Goos BEL 5810
19. Tine Deckers BEL 5725
20. Kristin Moeller DEU 5700
21. Amanda Stevens USA 5560
22. Susan Dietrich DEU 5530
23. Sonja Tajsich DEU 5385
24. Karin Thuerig CHE 5300*, Did not validate with an Ironman finish.
25. Erika Csomor HUN 5200
26. Melissa Rollison AUS 5160* AQ – Won last year’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship, but did not validate with an Ironman finish.
27. Mary Beth Ellis USA 5160
28. Michelle Vesterby DNK 4880
29. Corinne Abraham GBR 4830
*July Qualifying Cutoff*
30. Sara Gross CAN 4415
31. Mareen Hufe DEU
32. Belinda Granger AUS 4330
33. Kate Bevilaqua AUS 3990
34. Sarah Piampiano USA 3745
35. Virginia Berasategui ESP 3620