How To watch: 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand

December 13, 2024

Live race day coverage of the professional race will air around the world on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December beginning at 6:30 a.m. NZDT - Broadcast can be viewed globally on proseries.ironman.com, DAZN and YouTube except for US & Canada which can view exclusively on Outside TV - Viewers can also watch on Sky Sport Now (New Zealand), iQIYI (China); and beIN Sports (Middle East, North Africa and Asia-Pacific) while French viewers can view in local language on L’Équipe Live

TAUPŌ, New Zealand (Dec 13, 2024) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ — The 2024 VinFast IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship triathlon will make its long-anticipated stop in Taupō, New Zealand this weekend. The two days of racing will feature nearly 100 of the world’s best professional athletes and approximately 6,200 registered age-group athletes as professional and age-group women take the course on Saturday 14 December followed by the professional and age-group men on Sunday 15 December.

Live race day coverage will start at will start at 6:30 a.m. NZDT and be broadcast across multiple platforms for global viewers including proseries.ironman.com, DAZN, YouTube, Outside TV exclusively for the U.S. and Canada, L’Équipe Live in France, on iQIYI in China, and beIN Sports for the Middle East, North Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. In addition, viewers in the host country of New Zeeland will be able to tune into Sky Sport Now.

The live broadcast coverage will give viewers a front row seat to all the action of the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship as the world’s top professional athletes battle it out for a piece of the $500,000 USD professional prize purse and the crown of IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion. The VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon will also be the culmination of the inaugural IRONMAN Pro Series™ and the last chance for professional athletes to score points towards their final standings, with a maximum of 3,000 points on offer to the winners in Taupō. At the conclusion of both professional races in Taupō, the first-ever IRONMAN Pro Series Champions will be crowned, with the female and male winners earning a historic bonus payout of $200,000 USD each. A total bonus prize pool of $1.7million USD will be shared among those finishing in the IRONMAN Pro Series top 50 in each gender.

Course correspondents Mirinda Carfrae, Matt Lieto, and Greg Welch will provide an overview of the action from Taupō, with support from Dede Griesbauer and Michael Lovato from the studio, with Laura Siddall joining the studio team on for the women’s race. Special guests including Craig Alexander will join the team on the ground in Taupō, while for the women’s race, 2021 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion and 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Champion Lucy Charles Barclay will join the studio team from her home in London to provide unique insight into the race dynamics and competitors.

Key moments from the extensive live coverage will include*:

*All times listed NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time)

“’A Fighting Chance’ presented by Wahoo Fitness”

Follow the @ironmantri YouTube for a behind the scenes view of what it takes to have a chance at world-title glory. The ‘A Fighting Chance’ presented by Wahoo Fitness IRONMAN series will drop two new pre-race episodes on Wednesday and Thursday of race week, giving audiences an intimate glimpse into the days leading up to race day. The episode features behind the scenes look at top contenders as they prepare for the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand. Follow the @ironmantri social channels to be kept up to date with all the latest 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship content.

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About the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

In 2006 the inaugural IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship triathlon was held in Clearwater, Florida, becoming another test for the world’s elite triathletes. Since that auspicious beginning, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon 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 race. 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. After a successful two-day event in Lahti, Finland the race moves to Taupō, New Zealand on December 14-15, 2024. The event will go to Spain for the first time in 2025 with Marbella earning the right to host the event. 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 triathlon have ranged in age from 18 to 85-plus. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.

About IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN^® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN^® 70.3^® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship^® triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com.

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, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB^®, Tarawera Ultra-Trail™ by UTMB^® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB^®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world, providing participants 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, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. 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, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 14,000 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.