A fast-moving severe weather front known as a ‘cyclone bomb’ arrived at Sacramento just an hour before the scheduled start of Ironman California Sunday morning, forcing Ironman race officials to cancel the highly anticipated event.

Despite the weather front being scheduled to hit the race site Sunday, Ironman did not anticipate a full cancellation and planned to start the pro race proceed at the full distance while making a start at a shorter distance for age groupers.

But when rain and high winds pummeled the area early this morning, organizers made the call to cancel one hour before the scheduled 7 AM local time start.

In an Instagram post, The Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly confirmed the move. “If you haven’t heard, we had to cancel IRONMAN California. I was out at the swim start, and It’s so windy, there’s just no way you could put a bike on this course. So the race has been cancelled.

“I know it’s disappointing, so disappointing, but for the safety of each and every one of you, there’s just no way we could do this. IRONMAN will let you know what they’re gonna do with deferrals and all that good stuff.”

Ironman California issued its own statement on Facebook:

“Unfortunately, Mother Nature has forced the cancellation of IRONMAN California. The safety of the athletes, volunteers, and spectators is our highest priority. It would not be responsible to host the event at this moment in time. Weather conditions have deteriorated overnight and weather condition are expected to worsen over the course of the day.

“We no longer believe that we can provide an acceptably safe swim and bike environment for our athletes. We regret to inform you that the 2021 IRONMAN California triathlon cannot take place today on Oct. 24, 2021.

In a response on Twitter, cs@xrissimos pointed out the impact of the cancellation: “Coming from the other part of the world (Greece) serving 14 days quarantine in a country outside Schengen, in order to enter the US borders (although fully vaccinated) and race the IRONMAN in “sunny” California. Tough luck. It was a difficult decision. Always SAFETY first.”

Earlier this week, there were forecasts that a ‘bomb cyclone’ could produce flooding and high winds between late Saturday and late Monday.

Just before the cancellation, the only news from the organizers concerning potential changes to the planned schedule had come on Saturday, with amendments to the Age-Group race that saw the bike course cut in half and that there might be cutoff finish times.

For Ironman fans gathering around their computers in far flung corners of the triathlon world, there was a collective sigh of disappointment as a highly anticipated first clash between the current two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Gustav Iden of Norway in his first full Ironman debut, and three-time Ironman World champion Jan Frodeno. And in a late addition, would have been joined by Canadian star Lionel Sanders.