History Made at the 2022 Intermountain Healthcare 70.3 IRONMAN World Championship Presented by Utah Sports Commission

October 31, 2022

- Youngest female IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, first Afghan woman to compete in and finish the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and largest athlete field in IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship history are only a few of the notes of significance at this year’s event

ST. GEORGE, Utah (October 31, 2022) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The largest athlete field in the history of the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship, which also included the largest individual female and male fields, took to St. George, Utah, for the 2022 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission. This marked the second year in a row that St. George, Utah hosted the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in addition to also becoming the first location outside of Hawai`i to host the IRONMAN World Championship this past May. In all, Greater Zion has hosted three IRONMAN-branded World Championship events in the past 13 months, making history and showcasing why it is known as the Land of Endurance. Below are some of the significant moments at this year’s event, which was held over two days with the women racing on Friday, Oct. 28 and the men racing on Saturday, Oct. 29.

• At age 24, Taylor Knibb was the youngest professional female racing on Friday and became the youngest female ever to win the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. She is also the first American woman to win the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship since 2008 when Joanna Zeiger won the crown and just the second American female ever
• This is the first time ever that Americans have won both the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in the same year, with Knibb winning the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship and Chelsea Sodaro winning the 2022 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship
• Claiming his first IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title with a time of 3:37:14, Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) is now the first triathlete to ever win a WTS World Title, Olympic Gold Medal, IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and IRONMAN World Championship
  • Blummenfelt also became just the second male to win an IRONMAN World Championship, IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and Olympic gold medal, a feat previously only ever done by Jan Frodeno (DEU)
• Norwegian’s Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt have now won the male professional division in the last three IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship events (2019 – Iden; 2021 – Iden; 2022 –Blummenfelt) and last two IRONMAN World Championship events (2021 – Blummenfelt; 2022 –Iden)
• With a two-day event, one for the females and one for the males, nearly 5,500 athletes in total checked in to compete at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, the most ever for the event
  • This was also the largest female athlete field (over 1,900) to compete at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship
• St. George and Greater Zion, the true Land of Endurance, have now hosted three IRONMAN-branded World Championship events in past 13 months
  • The 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship will resume the event’s “global rotation” following the pandemic, with the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship set to take place in Lahti, Finland on August 26 and 27 and the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place in Taupō, New Zealand on December 14 and 15, 2024.
• With representation from over 104 countries, regions, and territories, this was one of the most international athlete fields in IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship history
• All 50 U.S. states were accounted for, with the greatest number hailing from California (304), Texas (189), Florida (176), Colorado (168), New York (138), Illinois (112), Washington (102), Pennsylvania (93), Wisconsin (86), and Michigan (83) making up the top states.
• Zeinab Rezaie made history in becoming the first Afghan woman to race and finish the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Zeinab was the final finisher of the 2022 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission, completing the race in a time of 08:28:57, giving her just over a minute to spare before the final cut off
• Michel Rolland (FRA) (81-years old) and Ted Ward (GBR) (18-years old) were the oldest and youngest male finishers of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
• Linda Ashmore (GBR) was the oldest female participant at 76, and Arina Niyaki (ZAF) at 19 was the youngest female to finish the IRONMAN World Championship
• More than 4,000 volunteers helped make the 2022 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission a great two days for athletes and spectators

For more information about the 2022 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission event, please visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship. To learn more about the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brands and series of events, please visit www.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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About Intermountain Healthcare

Located in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 25 hospitals, 225 clinics, the Intermountain Medical Group with some 2,700 employed physicians and advanced care practitioners, a health plans division called SelectHealth, Homecare, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes and sustainable costs.

About Utah Sports Commission

The Utah Sports Commission was created to be a catalyst for Utah in its Olympic legacy efforts and to help enhance Utah’s economy, image, and quality of life through the attraction, promotion, and development of national and international sports. Since the 2002 Olympics and Paralympic, the Utah Sports Commission has attracted nearly 900 major events to the state. The Sports Commission works closely with communities, sports entities, and organizations to provide event services ranging from the bid process, on-site logistics, volunteer coordination, sponsorships and promotional opportunities, and other related services. It is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 business league and Utah Sports Commission Foundation, a not-for-profit 501c3 charitable organization, is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Trustees consisting of statewide sports, business, community, and government leaders. For more information, visit www.utahsportscommission.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

In 2006 the inaugural IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship was held in Clearwater, Florida becoming another test for the world’s elite triathletes. Since that auspicious beginning, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship has grown in stature and popularity moving first to Henderson, Nevada in 2011, where athletes encountered a more challenging terrain and then to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec—its first stop on the new “global rotation” for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. The event reached European soil for the first time ever in 2015, with Zell am See, Austria, hosting an epic and memorable event. In 2016, the race moved from the mountains to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. In 2017, the race returned to the United States, taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it became a two-day event for the first time. In 2018, the event reached the African continent for the first time and was hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. Continuing the rotation, 2019 saw the French Riviera and Nice, France play host to the ever-growing IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. After a year in which the event was not able to take place due to a global pandemic, the race returned in 2021 with over 3,500 athletes competing in St. George, Utah. The event again took place in St. George, Utah, returning to a two-day format on October 28-29, 2022, and now shifts to Lahti, Finland on August 26-27, 2023 and Taupō, New Zealand on December 14-15, 2024. Historically, more than 200,000 athletes have participated annually in a series of qualifying races, consisting of over 100 global events. Hosting more than 5,000 athletes from around the world, participants in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship have ranged in age from 18 to 85-plus. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events including Haute Route^®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz^® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, 1010data and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.