We Noticed: New IRONMAN Races, Small Field in Bahrain, New Supertri Format and More on the Retirement Front

Barranquilla, Colombia will host a new IRONMAN 70.3 race next year. Photo: IRONMAN

The sport sure seems to be going strong in Mexico/ South America these days – IRONMAN calls it the Latin America region and will offer 30 races there next year. Two of those were announced today as new addition. IRONMAN 70.3 Barranquilla adds a second 70.3 to the calendar in Colombia and will take place on June 7, 2026. Here’s how IRONMAN describes the new destination, which is the fourth-largest city in the country.

Known as Colombia’s Golden Gate, Barranquilla is a vibrant port city that pulses with music, dance, and sunshine year-round. The IRONMAN 70.3 Barranquilla event will blend the strength and energy of IRONMAN 70.3 athletes with the warm, cultural, and festive spirit of Barranquilla, reaffirming the city as an international sports tourism destination and strengthening its capacity to host major events. General registration for the new event will open on December 10, 2025, at www.ironman.com/races/im703-barranquilla.

Coquimbo, Chile will host a new 5150 event on October. 4 next year. As you would expect, IRONMAN has offered up a pretty nice description of the new race site:

Coquimbo, a bustling port city in northern Chile’s Coquimbo Region, is known for its rich maritime heritage, vibrant culture, and dramatic coastal landscapes. Nestled along a natural bay, it has long served as an important hub for fishing, trade, and tourism. The city blends history and modern charm, with highlights like the iconic Cruz del Tercer Milenio overlooking the shoreline, the picturesque English Neighborhood showcasing 19th-century architecture, and nearby La Herradura Bay, famous for its calm waters and local legends. Coquimbo’s lively markets, seafood cuisine, and connection to the arts make it a dynamic gateway to the region’s beaches, observatories, and neighboring city of La Serena.

You can get more information here.

IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain Age-Group Numbers

For all the excitement about racing in the Middle East we’ve seen over the last few years, it was a bit surprising to see the final age-group race numbers from last week’s IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain.

The men’s and women’s age-group fields totalled 310, based on the athlete tracker app. According to the results on the site, there were 377 total finishers, so there was a good-sized, 67-strong pro field. (That’s almost 18% of the total field.)

Last year’s race had 1,075 finishers, and there were 1,243 in 2023. As far as I can tell, the highest number of finishers the race has ever had is 1,310 from 2019.

The word is that registration for the event didn’t open until just a couple of months before the race (thanks Kingy – you can read his post on the forum here), which would have made it really difficult for out of country athletes to commit to the event. Locals had lots of choices, including T100 Dubai last month and this weekend’s T100 Qatar.

As Kingy points out, the long-distance race options in 2026 are only exploding in the region with a full and two 70.3s in Oman, a 70.3 in Qatar along with T100 races in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai. Then there’s 70.3 Bahrain to add to the mix. One would imagine opening registration a lot earlier for next year’s race will be high on the to-do list.

New Supertri Format Coming for 2026

The pro women start at Supertri Toronto. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Supertri has expanded its event calendar for next year with the addition of the Blenheim Palace and New Jersey State Triathlons and plans to “unify” its race format so pros and age-groupers will compete “together under one Supertri brand at festivals across North America and Europe.”

Last year the “By Supertri” festivals included Toronto, Chicago, Jersey and Toulouse. Blenheim, with a reported 7,000 participants this year, is certainly one of the largest triathlons (participant-wise) in the world. It’s always hard to nail down official numbers of “triathletes” at an event, but the famed Noosa Tri typically gets 8,000 to 10,000 athletes, with Challenge Taiwan reporting over 10,000 participants this year. (Not sure if that includes runners and kids events.) Regardless, the new Supertri format will now include two of the largest triathlon races in the world – Chicago and Blenheim – and we can look forward to pro athletes competing at all of the Supertri events as they look to qualify for a new Supertri League final “featuring Supertri’s unique formats and innovations and carrying the biggest one-day purse in triathlon.”

“We’re building on our belief that triathlon must deliver for all,” Supertri CEO and co-founder Michael D’Hulst said. “That means encouraging new athletes into the sport with inclusive race opportunities, offering a platform for growth and exceptional event experiences for seasoned competitors. It also means a professional platform that respects and elevates our pros, all while producing a balanced and financially sustainable ecosystem for the sport that is fit for the long-term.” 

The Supertri league events always featured excellent coverage, but that would have been extremely expensive. One would guess that the new format is designed to cut down on some of those costs, but will still enable us to enjoy at least one big day of pro racing in the Supertri format.

The other bit of news from the release was that we won’t see a Supertri E world championship next year.

Supertri will be releasing the details of how the pro racing will work over the next little bit and we’ll provide more updates as they become available.

More on the Retirement Front

We can add four-time Olympians Rachel Klamer and Richard Murray to our long list of retiring pros. The two are married, of course, with Murray switching his citizenship from South Africa to be able to compete with Klamer for the Netherlands in Paris last year. Klamer’s best Olympic result was a pair of fourth-place finishes in Tokyo in the individual and mixed relay.

Murray also took fourth at one of his four Olympic appearances – he finished just a few seconds behind countryman Henri Schoeman in Rio. Just months before the Tokyo Games he required heart surgery for atrial fibrillation, but somehow managed to bounce back in time to compete at the Games. Murray chose to skip the individual race to focus on the mixed relay there, but the South African team would be forced to pull out after Schoeman got injured in the individual race.

Kate Bevilaqua returned to the site of her first IRONMAN win – Western Australia (in 2010) – for her final race as a pro. In addition to her three IRONMAN wins (she also won in Korea in 2011 and Louisville in 2013), she also won the Ultraman World Championship in 2016. (Tim Carlson interviewed her after that win.)

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