Jeanni Seymour (ZAF) AND Justin Metzler (USA) earn victories as athletes return to the water for a 500M SWIM, 40KM bike and 3KM run during the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR15 Pro Challenge

July 20, 2020

More than 1,500 age-group athletes registered to compete in the second edition of the four-week long HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship

TAMPA, Fla. (July 20, 2020) – Jeanni Seymour (ZAF) and Justin Metzler (USA) made it a family affair becoming the first husband and wife duo to take top honors in the professional women’s and men’s races, respectively during the 15th edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN^® VR™ Pro Challenge. This weekend’s race positioned eight Boulder, Colorado based professional athletes for a head to head 500m swim race at the local RallySport Pool, before taking on a 40km ride on the 5150 Cairns bike course, utilizing Official Virtual Cycling partner ROUVY’s augmented reality. The athletes finished off the virtual race with a 3km run recorded at multiple training locations around Boulder showcasing the first full virtual triathlon on the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge broadcast.

On Friday, the professional women took to the virtual start lines with Jeanni Seymour (ZAF) emerging victorious in her second HOKE ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge appearance, finishingwith an overall time of 1:16:04. Behind Seymour, Lesley Smith (USA) finished in second with a time of 1:19:12 and Kimberly Goodell (USA) finished in third with a time of 1:22:23. Mexico’s Palmira Alvarez closed out the group, clocking a time of 1:24:15.

The full broadcast of the women’s HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR15 Pro Challenge can be viewed HERE.

Professional women’s results:

 On Saturday, it was the professional men’s turn to battle. Seymour’s husband, Justin Metzler (USA) put in an impressive performance in his second HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge appearance, finishingthe swim, bike and run in a time of 1:07:18.  Steven Zawaski (USA) followed in second place with a combined time of 1:08:17. The 15-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion, Sam Appleton (AUS) took third position with an overall finishing time of 1:10:23, while Bradley Weiss (ZAF) rounded out the group with a time of 1:11:16.

The full broadcast of the men’s HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR15 Pro Challenge can be viewed, HERE.

Professional men’s results:

In total, over 9,000 athletes from more than 118 nations and 47 states set out to participate in IRONMAN VR15. The IRONMAN VR15 5150 Olympic distance simulation requires athletes to complete a 3km Run, 40km Ride, and 10km Run between Friday, July 17 at 6 a.m. ET (10 p.m. GMT) and race close, Sunday, July 19 at 7:59 p.m. ET (11:59 p.m. GMT). Competitors who race in the IRONMAN VR15 Classic division can do the three race segments anywhere, indoors or outdoors, in any order and are not required to do the segments consecutively.

The over 1,500 athletes who registered for the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series are bound by a different set of rules over a four-week long regulated age-group competition designed to reward top-performing athletes in a structured and competitive virtual environment. An athlete’s overall standing is based upon their top three performances in aggregate over a four-week period. Athletes competing will have the opportunity to earn race slots to the IRONMAN^®70.3^® World Championship with a total of 75 qualifying slots allocated across age groups for top performers.

IRONMAN VR15 leaderboard updates can be found by visiting the IRONMANVR Facebook Page.

Bringing the IRONMAN community together virtually, the IRONMAN^®Virtual Club™ continues to grow and now has more than 111,000 members on the platform with thousands completing IRONMAN Virtual Club Challenges since its recent launch.

Full details and specifics regarding the IRONMAN Virtual Club are available on www.ironmanvirtualclub.com. For questions about the IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series, athletes can email ironmanvr@ironman.com. For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media related inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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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 Marathon Series^®, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, ITU World Triathlon Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf^® presented by Westpac, Ultra-Trail^® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, 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 and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. 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 more than 235 events across 55+ countries. On March 26, 2020, Wanda Sports Group (Nasdaq: WSG) entered into an agreement to sell The IRONMAN Group to Advance; closing is anticipated in mid-2020. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.

Appendix A:

VNR – (All VNR use should be limited to two-minutes of video with credit provided to IRONMAN)

Professional Women and Men’s HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge Footage