Ironman announced today that starting with the 2015 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Melbourne, Australia, fans will be able to follow the Pros via a new digital athlete tracking platform labeled IRONFAN through the ironman.com website.

This enhanced data tracking for all professional athletes will then be featured at the Ironman World Championship, Ironman 70.3 World Championship and all five regional Ironman Championships. In addition to live position tracking professional athletes will be have the option to opt-in to transmit biometric and power data for even more enhanced data. The program was pilot tested in Kona and is no apparently ready for prime time.

“We believe this initiative will draw more attention to and improve engagement with our sport,” said Andrew Messick, CEO of Ironman. “We are taking a major step forward by leveraging technology to create a more colorful and comprehensive experience for fans and the media. Our hope is that we will be able to expand this innovation to all races and to age-group athletes in the future.”

This is likely a trend that we will see moving forward and something fans have indeed been asking for. With GPS tracking folks of course also have visions of a modern new drafting deterrence.

At the 2014 Datev Challenge Roth partnered with Deutsche Telekom and SAS Technologies and about 15 athletes in the race beta tested an advanced tracking system that also allowed these athletes to summon help for either a mechanical or a medical issue via 2 buttons on the device.