Freitag, 13. März 2020

SARSCoV2: THE IRONMAN GROUP’S RESPONSE TO COVID-19

THE IRONMAN GROUP’S RESPONSE TO COVID-19



To our global community,

We know that both our athletes and our communities want to be racing; we do too.

While The IRONMAN Group’s mission is to provide exceptional, life-changing race experiences for athletes of all levels, from their first step to the finish line, we can only accomplish this by providing the safest possible environment, and safeguarding the citizens of our host communities.

COVID-19 has substantially altered the global sports landscape and will have material impact on the mass participation industry in the immediate term. We want to reassure you that the health and well-being of our community is our primary concern. To this end, we are doing our part to communicate effectively and follow public health agencies and governmental authorities’ recommendations.

We expect that there are going to be substantial and widespread event postponements in the coming weeks and months. The decision to proceed, restrict, modify or postpone an event will be based on availability of community resources and ongoing event-specific risk assessment in coordination with the relevant healthcare and government authorities and the IRONMAN Global Medical Advisory Board, an independent medical advisory board focused on health and safety.

For events that will continue, The IRONMAN Group, along with the IRONMAN Global Medical Advisory Board, has outlined a series of pragmatic and practical actions designed to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 or any other infectious agent to athletes and to members of our host communities. These steps will help athletes achieve their goals while allowing communities to secure the benefits of hosting mass participation sporting events. They will be implemented worldwide at all IRONMAN Group events beginning March 19 and will continue indefinitely.

Self-care and Risk Minimization
Athletes who are sick or have been potentially exposed to an infectious agent must not compete or attend events, as this puts others at risk. As a community, we each have a personal responsibility to protect each other by complying with this rule.

We ask that all athletes, volunteers and partners follow the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for basic protective measures against the new coronavirus:
  • Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.
  • Regularly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash your hands with soap and water, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Practice good respiratory hygiene. Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of used tissues immediately and appropriately in a bin.
Providing Flexibility to Athletes 
Certain races will be postponed or cancelled due to the outbreak and we will communicate these as soon as practical. Our goal will be to move the race to a date later in the year. We work in close partnership with the relevant public health authorities in the territories where the races take place and err on the side of safety for our athletes and the host community. If an event cannot occur on the scheduled date, we will take the following actions:
  • Postponement:  Registered athletes for events that are postponed due to COVID-19 by the local health authorities are automatically transferred to the rescheduled date. For those that the new date does not work, we will allow deferrals into the same event the next year.
  • Cancellation: Registered athletes for events that are cancelled due to COVID-19 by the local health authorities are automatically deferred to the same race in 2021.
  • Other options: We are vetting other options to allow displaced athletes to race in 2020 and will communicate those in due course.
  • Athletes in Quarantined/Restricted Territories: For athletes in certain designated quarantine or restricted territories who have registered for races that take place before June 1, 2020 and have NOT been postponed or cancelled, we will aid in finding alternative races later in the season.
For those who are sick, feel unwell, or have been potentially exposed to an infectious agent in advance of a race that will take place, do not come to the race; instead seek medical care. Once you have done so, contact the relevant Athlete Services representative for your race and we will attempt to find you another solution.

Safe Event Experience 
In order to provide the safest experience for our athletes, we are instituting the following at our races, effective March 19.  
  • Reinforcing Social Distancing in all elements of the event
    • The hours of on-site event registration will be expanded.
    • Athletes will be allowed to pick up their athlete race kit/race bib and immediately exit expo area.
    • Athlete density will be decreased by increasing individual race space staging, corrals, etc.
    • No-handshake behavior will be encouraged for the duration of the event.
    • Athlete briefing information will be available digitally only.
    • Non-core, high-contact services (e.g. wetsuit peeling) will be suspended. 
  • Hygiene First
    • Staff and volunteers who are interacting with participants pre-race, on race day and post-race will be provided gloves.
    • Hand-washing stations and sanitation stations around the venue for athletes, volunteers and spectators will be increased
    • No-touch waste disposal stations and receptacles will be rolled out as available.
    • Frequently touched surfaces at race venue locations such as workstations, product distribution areas, tables and electronic devices will be cleaned regularly.
    • When possible, on-course food and fluid supplies will be single use/single serving closed packaging
    • Athletes planning to return home by airplane or rail are encouraged to avoid travel post-event for 24 hours allowing their immune system time to recover post-race.
    • No onsite interviews or press conference with professional athletes.
    • No handshake/contact on the race podium.
    • Printed document distribution will be eliminated. 
  • Medical Service
    • Education and awareness training regarding signs and symptoms of COVID-19 will be provided to all medical and volunteer staff.
    • Frequent communication with health authorities and healthcare facilities will be implemented to assist in assessment, referral and initial management of suspected COVID-19 illness of staff, participants, volunteers, and spectators.

This is a highly dynamic situation and we will continue to adapt and adjust as appropriate. We appreciate your patience in the coming days and weeks. We recognize that this is a challenging time but our community will endure. We are inspired by your  ambition, and endeavor to be worthy of your commitment. As further updates are available, they will be posted at www.ironman.com/updates and www.runrocknroll.com/updates in addition to our individual event sites and social media pages. Thank you for your continued support, and we wish you the best in health and wellness.

Andrew Messick
President & Chief Executive Officer
The IRONMAN Group

Freitag, 21. Februar 2020

2020 IRONMAN Now Facebook Watch Schedule Announced with 19 Featured Events

Facebook Watch enters third year as exclusive digital home of live race coverage. he IRONMAN Group, a Wanda Sports Group company (Nasdaq: WSG), today announced it will continue live event coverage on Facebook Watch via the IRONMAN Now® Facebook Page for the third straight year, featuring 19 events from around the world in 2020. As the number of events receiving Facebook Watch live coverage has increased each year, so too have the fans tuning in. Over the past two years, more than 5.3 million people have watched at least one minute of an IRONMAN live event broadcast on Facebook.

Available globally to fans on Facebook, the 19 events covered this season will come from 12 different countries and four continents with coverage debuting on March 7 from the Nutri-Grain IRONMAN® New Zealand in Taupo. The storylines are rich with intrigue throughout the year as four regional championships will be featured including the IRONMAN African Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa; the IRONMAN North America Championship in St. George, Utah; The Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship in Cairns, Australia; and the Mainova IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany.

Back by popular demand will be the return of IRONMAN Austria- Kärnten, IRONMAN Italy Emilia-Romagna and the ever-challenging IRONMAN Wales.

Making their inaugural appearance on Facebook Watch will be the first edition of the Certified Piedmontese IRONMAN Tulsa, and IRONMAN Switzerland’s first stop in Thun, while Subaru IRONMAN Canada makes its long-awaited return to Penticton, British Columbia. Long-standing host cities Panama City Beach, Florida, USA and Santa Rosa, California, USA will join one of the oldest and most popular events on the global circuit, Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand, as each also makes their debut on IRONMAN Now.

IRONMAN will produce its live coverage for a connected audience, incorporating unique viewer interaction through Facebook Watch Parties, real-time polls, fan discussion, and user generated content from spectators along the course.

The Vega IRONMAN World Championship, which takes place annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, will again receive robust week-long programming, culminating in nearly a full-day of live race coverage on October 10. Last year’s Vega IRONMAN World Championship included more than 20 hours of comprehensive live race day coverage, including everything from the early morning body marking to the final hour finish line celebration.

The extensive 2020 coverage concludes where it began in Taupo, New Zealand with the 2020 IRONMAN®70.3® World Championship taking place on Nov. 28-29. Nearly 6,000 of the best triathletes in the world will converge around The Great Lake Taupõ District for what will become the largest event in the series’ history.

The fully produced live event coverage will be hosted by past champions of IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events, including Dede Griesbauer, Matt Lieto, and Michael Lovato, as well as IRONMAN World Champions and Hall of Famers Paula Newby Fraser and Greg Welch.

Live race coverage of the following events as well as a range of on-demand programming will be available on Facebook Watch globally via the IRONMAN Now Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow. The full 2020 schedule can be found below.

2020 IRONMAN Now Facebook Watch Schedule


  • March 7 Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand Taupo, New Zealand
  • March 29 IRONMAN African Championship Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa
  • May 2 IRONMAN North American Championship St. George, Utah, USA
  • May 31 Certified Piedmontese IRONMAN Tulsa Tulsa, Okla., USA
  • June 7 Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns, Australia
  • June 21 IRONMAN Hamburg Hamburg, Germany
  • June 28 Mainova IRONMAN European Championship Frankfurt, Germany
  • July 5 IRONMAN Austria-Kärnten Klagenfurt, Austria
  • July 12 IRONMAN Switzerland Thun, Switzerland
  • July 25 IRONMAN Santa Rosa Santa Rosa, Calif., USA
  • August 15 IRONMAN Kalmar Kalmar, Sweden
  • August 23 Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, Québec, Canada
  • August 30 Subaru IRONMAN Canada Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
  • September 6 IRONMAN Wales Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom
  • September 19 IRONMAN Italy Emilia-Romagna Cervia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • September 26 IRONMAN Portugal – Cascais Cascais, Portugal
  • October 10 Vega IRONMAN World Championship Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, USA
  • November 7 Visit Panama City Beach IRONMAN Florida Panama City Beach, Florida, USA
  • November 28-29 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Taupo, New Zealand