CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today that IRONMAN has chosen Chattanooga to host 2017 IRONMAN Championships.
The championships will take place over two days: professional and age-group women will race on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, and the professional and age-group men will race on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017.
“We are incredibly excited that our community was chosen to host the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 Championships,” said Bob Doak, president and chief executive officer for the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Chattanooga is now the IRONMAN Capital of the Planet. This two-day event will leave an estimated economic impact of $20 million in our community. That’s impressive. We would not have been able to do this without the existing strong partnership with IRONMAN and the dedication and support of the entire community.”
Chattanooga is 1 of 5 cities in North America to host both a full-distance IRONMAN and a 70.3 IRONMAN. It is 1 of 10 cities in the world to host both a full-distance IRONMAN and a 70.3 IRONMAN. Chattanooga is also the only city in the world to host a full-distance IRONMAN, a 70.3 IRONMAN and the 70.3 IRONMAN World Championships (two events, two days).
Chattanooga beat out two other venues where IRONMAN races are held in Lake Placid, New York and St. George, Utah.
“We have now joined the ranks of world cities to host this international event,” said Doak. “In 2014 it was held in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada; this year, it was held in Zell am See, Austria; in 2016, Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia; and then in 2017, Chattanooga, Tenn. The first time the United States will be eligible to host this event again will be in 2025. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship is the pinnacle event in the global IRONMAN 70.3 calendar. Throughout the 2017 season, IRONMAN expects more than 185,000 registered athletes will race at over 100 IRONMAN 70.3 races around the world. From those races, more than 4,000 athletes will qualify to race in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
“Since 2006, the IRONMAN 70.3 race series has grown exponentially around the world and has seen global success with the annual change in host region of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship,” said Andrew Messick, chief executive officer for IRONMAN. “As we continue to rotate the pinnacle event for the series, it is with great pleasure to announce that Chattanooga, Tennessee has been selected as the host city for 2017. Chattanooga is a first-class city, fully qualified and well-equipped to deliver a world-renowned event, and we look forward to providing our athletes with an unforgettable championship race experience.”
