Defending champion, Germany’s Jan Frodeno headlines elite field in the world’s most iconic single-day sporting event.
The men’s group is crowded with titleholders and contenders, including two-time reigning IRONMAN World Champion and one of the most dominant triathletes of all time, Jan Frodeno (DEU). The 2008 Olympic gold medalist will seek a third title at Kona to further cement his legacy.
Frodeno’s fellow German rival, 2014 IRONMAN world champion Sebastian Kienle (DEU), finished second last year with the eighth-fastest time in the history of this race (8:10:02) and will be attempting to reclaim a spot atop the podium. Both will also be keenly aware of the third German in the bunch, Patrick Lange, who burst onto the scene in not-so-subtle fashion by posting a 2:39:45 time in the marathon portion, breaking a 27-year-old IRONMAN World Championship run-course record to earn third place in his Kona debut.
Outside of the Germans who look to keep hold of the podium, fans around the world are sure to keep their eyes on veteran triathlete Tim Don (GBR) who shattered the IRONMAN world record with a flawless race at the 2017 IRONMAN South American Championship in Brazil, finishing in 7:40:23 in May.
Adding pressure onto the field will be Lionel Sanders (CAN) who has been dominant in IRONMAN 70.3 competition, amassing 16 wins over the past four seasons, including an almost flawless record in 2017 with victories at IRONMAN 70.3 events in Pucon, Buenos Aires, Oceanside and Mont-Tremblant.
Rising-star Josh Amberger (AUS) will make his debut in Kona after capturing the 2017 IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship in Cairns in May.
Two-time IRONMAN African champion and 2014 IRONMAN World Championship runner-up Ben Hoffman (USA) will look to improve upon his fourth-place finish from a year ago.
Fellow Americans Tim O’Donnell and Andy Potts, who respectively earned third and fourth place finishes in the 2015 IRONMAN World Championship, will join Hoffman in competing to become the first IRONMAN world champion from America since 2002 (Tim DeBoom).
Below is the pro men’s start list for the 2017 IRONMAN World Championship:
1 Frodeno Jan DEU (Germany)
2 Kienle Sebastian DEU (Germany)
3 Hoffman Benjamin USA (United States of America)
5 Lange Patrick DEU (Germany)
6 O’Donnell Timothy USA (United States of America)
7 Van Lierde Frederik BEL (Belgium)
8 Buckingham Kyle ZAF (South Africa)
10 Stein Boris DEU (Germany)
11 Jacobs Pete AUS (Australia)
12 Hanson Matthew USA (United States of America)
14 Potts Andy USA (United States of America)
15 Bozzone Terenzo NZL (New Zealand)
16 McNamee David GBR (United Kingdom)
17 Russell Matthew USA (United States of America)
18 Aernouts Bart BEL (Belgium)
19 Cunnama James ZAF (South Africa)
20 Kastelein Nicholas AUS (Australia)
21 Amberger Josh AUS (Australia)
22 Currie Braden NZL (New Zealand)
23 Schildknecht Ronnie CHE (Switzerland)
24 Reed Tim AUS (Australia)
25 Frommhold Nils DEU (Germany)
26 Nilsson Patrik SWE (Sweden)
27 Gambles Joe USA (United States of America)
28 Butterfield Tyler BMU (Bermuda)
29 Wild Ruedi CHE (Switzerland)
30 Sanders Lionel CAN (Canada)
31 McMahon Brent CAN (Canada)
32 Tutukin Ivan RUS (Russian Federation)
33 Dellow David AUS (Australia)
34 Viennot Cyril FRA (France)
35 Weiss Michael AUT (Austria)
36 Albert Marko EST (Estonia)
37 Degasperi Alessandro ITA (Italy)
38 Van Berkel Tim AUS (Australia)
39 Amorelli Igor BRA (Brazil)
40 Vinhal Thiago BRA (Brazil)
41 Plese David SVN (Slovenia)
42 Duelsen Marc DEU (Germany)
43 Wiltshire Harry GBR (United Kingdom)
44 van Berkel Jan CHE (Switzerland)
45 Rana Ivan ESP (Spain)
46 Kotsegarov Kirill EST (Estonia)
47 Colucci Reinaldo BRA (Brazil)
48 Evoe Patrick USA (United States of America)
49 Wurf Cameron AUS (Australia)
50 Fontana Daniel ITA (Italy)
51 Thomas Jesse USA (United States of America)
52 Fachbach Markus DEU (Germany)
53 Molinari Giulio ITA (Italy)
54 Chevrot Denis FRA (France)
55 Fox Michael AUS (Australia)
56 Tohara Kaito JPN (Japan)
58 McDonald Chris AUS (Australia)
59 Llanos Eneko ESP (Spain)
The 2017 IRONMAN World Championship will offer a $650,000 total professional prize purse which will be distributed to male and female first through tenth place finishers.
In addition to the competitive professional field, more than 2,400 registered age-group are registered to compete in this year’s IRONMAN World Championship. The largest international athlete field in this race’s history represents 66 countries, regions and territories on six continents. Athletes ranging in age from 18 to 84 have earned their championship opportunity by having finished among the best at one of more than 40 qualifying IRONMAN events worldwide.
Live race coverage of the 2017 IRONMAN World Championship can be viewed on Ironman.com. Comprehensive coverage will capture every aspect of the race and feature a hosted show, athlete tracker and live blog. For live tracking, real-time results and instant notifications, fans can follow both the professional and age-group athletes on the IRONMAN Tracker app available for download from the Google Play and the iTunes App Store. In addition, NBC will air the IRONMAN World Championship special on Saturday, December 9 at 2:30 p.m. ET (check local listings for details).