The Irish at Ironman World Champs – Kona 2017
That time of year again…
The first week of October each year heralds that time when the top long distance athletes descend on the island of Hawaii for the Ironman World Championships. This year there is the largest Irish entry yet, with 20 athletes having travelled to Kona for the race.
More and more ITU athletes are racing in Ironman long distances races, meaning that some of the most recognisable names in triathlon will be racing at Kona. The Irish athletes will join almost 2500 other age group athletes racing for Ironman World Championship medals.
irish triathletes
Amongst those who have qualified for Kona this year are Aileen Flynn, the only Irish female entered and Cillian Moffat who, at 25, is the youngest Irish athlete. Aileen has raced in Kona once before while it is Cillian’s first trip to race the ‘Big Island’. Also in Kona are Declan Doyle and Owen Martin who have an impressive seven completions each. Ivan O’Gorman is also in Hawaii, having completed six times previously.
You can follow the athletes’ progress on the Ironman website here. See the below table for bib numbers.
| Bib | Name | Age Group |
| 922 | Ciaran Byrne | M 45 – 49 |
| 1344 | Declan Doyle | M 40 – 44 |
| 1577 | Aileen Flynn | F 40 – 44 |
| 971 | Adrian Garvey | M 45 – 49 |
| 1364 | Ruaidhri Gerarghty | M 40 – 44 |
| 1707 | Kevin Gilleece | M 35 – 39 |
| 1382 | Oliver Harkin | M 40 – 44 |
| 1386 | Gary Higgins | M 40 – 44 |
| 1733 | Emmet Kelly | M 35 – 39 |
| 1734 | Alan Kenny | M 35 – 39 |
| 1736 | Andrew Kinane | M 35 – 39 |
| 1040 | Richard Maloney | M 45 – 49 |
| 1428 | Owen Martin | M 40 – 44 |
| 1773 | Michael McCarron | M 35 – 39 |
| 2278 | Cillian Moffat | M 25 – 29 |
| 1445 | Patrick Muckian | M 40 – 44 |
| 1451 | Ivan O’Gorman | M 40 – 44 |
| 1791 | Colin O’Shea | M 35 – 39 |
| 1122 | Paul Rutherford | M 45 – 49 |
| 1534 | John Woods | M 40 – 44 |
The very best of luck to all the Irish athletes racing this week.
