Kona qualifying times · 2026

Kona qualifying times for M18-24

Men 18-24: what it took to earn a IRONMAN World Championship slot at every IRONMAN race of 2026 and 2025.

9:20:37median finish needed, 2026
10:39:10most accessible · IRONMAN Wales
8:35:59fastest cutoff · IRONMAN Copenhagen
79M18-24 slots at 35 races

What time do I need to qualify for Kona in M18-24?

  • M18-24 athletes earned 79 IRONMAN World Championship slots at 35 of the 35 full-distance IRONMAN qualifiers in our 2026 results.
  • The median finish time needed for a slot was 9:20:37; it ranged from 8:35:59 at 2026 IRONMAN Copenhagen to 10:39:10 at 2026 IRONMAN Wales.
  • 2026 IRONMAN Frankfurt, 2026 IRONMAN UK Leeds were raced on a shortened course and are left out of the comparison.
  • Slots went deepest at 2026 IRONMAN Switzerland Thun: 4 M18-24 qualifiers, the last in 4th place.
  • In 2025: a median 9:25:16 across 35 races (8:47:24 to 10:58:33).

Where M18-24 qualified with the slowest times in 2026

Races where the last M18-24 slot needed the slowest finish — a rough guide to where a slot is most within reach. Course, weather and the field change year to year, so check the race’s own history too.

M18-24 at every 2026 IRONMAN qualifier

M18-24 athletes earned 79 IRONMAN World Championship slots at 35 of the 35 full-distance IRONMAN qualifiers in our 2026 results. The median finish time needed for a slot was 9:20:37; it ranged from 8:35:59 at 2026 IRONMAN Copenhagen to 10:39:10 at 2026 IRONMAN Wales. 2026 IRONMAN Frankfurt, 2026 IRONMAN UK Leeds were raced on a shortened course and are left out of the comparison. Slots went deepest at 2026 IRONMAN Switzerland Thun: 4 M18-24 qualifiers, the last in 4th place.

M18-24 qualifying times, 2026
RaceDateSlotsLast slotNeeded
IRONMAN New Zealand7 Mar1winner9:02:271st9:33:41
IRONMAN Penghu12 Apr1winner10:35:061st9:58:29
IRONMAN Texas18 Apr39:08:433rd9:11:15
IRONMAN South Africa19 Apr29:32:392nd9:36:34
IRONMAN Vietnam10 May1winner9:15:291st9:39:53
IRONMAN Jacksonville16 May29:12:192nd9:18:13
IRONMAN Lanzarote23 May39:36:033rd9:42:27
IRONMAN Brazil31 May28:34:482nd8:40:50
IRONMAN Subic Bay Philippines7 Jun1winner10:23:191st10:38:20
IRONMAN Hamburg7 Jun38:50:463rd8:53:26
IRONMAN Tours Metropole - Loire Valley14 Jun28:55:282nd8:55:45
IRONMAN Kaernten-Klagenfurt, Austria14 Jun38:47:463rd8:51:37
IRONMAN Cairns14 Jun39:11:383rd9:20:19
IRONMAN Frankfurtshortened course — not comparable28 Jun35:46:113rd5:49:28
IRONMAN Switzerland Thun6 Jul49:07:134th9:11:07
IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz12 Jul1winner8:58:081st9:20:37
IRONMAN Lake Placid19 Jul39:37:473rd9:46:13
IRONMAN Canada-Ottawa2 Aug28:48:242nd9:04:16
IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden15 Aug1winner8:38:531st8:54:00
IRONMAN UK Leedsshortened course — not comparable16 Aug38:51:303rd8:57:46
IRONMAN Copenhagen16 Aug48:35:084th8:35:59
IRONMAN Tallinn22 Aug1winner8:14:471st8:48:29
IRONMAN Vichy23 Aug1winner9:50:071st9:54:19
IRONMAN Wisconsin13 Sept49:45:354th9:56:29
IRONMAN Japan South Hokkaido13 Sept1winner9:25:081st9:33:59
IRONMAN Wales13 Sept1winner10:28:491st10:39:10
IRONMAN Italy Emilia Romagna19 Sept1winner8:40:521st9:04:59
IRONMAN Maryland19 Sept49:01:304th9:02:07
IRONMAN Chattanooga27 Sept49:24:274th9:32:59
IRONMAN Gurye Korea4 Oct1winner10:38:041st9:40:25
IRONMAN Portugal-Cascais17 Oct39:05:383rd9:23:43
IRONMAN California18 Oct28:32:132nd9:00:38
IRONMAN Australia18 Oct39:32:003rd9:37:42
IRONMAN San Juan1 Nov1winner9:52:151st9:24:50
IRONMAN Florida7 Nov49:07:164th9:07:16
Last slot: the slowest M18-24 qualifier’s finish time and age-group place. Needed: the finish time that equalled the pool’s age-graded cutoff for M18-24 at that race — any faster finish earned a slot. Age-group winners qualify whatever their time. Before any rolldown.

M18-24 at every 2025 IRONMAN qualifier

M18-24 athletes earned 87 IRONMAN World Championship slots at 35 of the 35 full-distance IRONMAN qualifiers in our 2025 results. The median finish time needed for a slot was 9:25:16; it ranged from 8:47:24 at 2025 IRONMAN Copenhagen to 10:58:33 at 2025 IRONMAN South Africa. 2025 IRONMAN Australia was raced on a shortened course and is left out of the comparison. Slots went deepest at 2025 IRONMAN Lake Placid: 9 M18-24 qualifiers, the last in 9th place.

M18-24 qualifying times, 2025
RaceDateSlotsLast slotNeeded
IRONMAN South Africa30 Mar1winner10:53:011st10:58:33
IRONMAN Taiwan13 Apr1winner10:50:051st10:36:25
IRONMAN Texas26 Apr610:07:036th10:37:30
IRONMAN Australiashortened course — not comparable4 May58:48:005th8:51:42
IRONMAN Lanzarote17 May1winner9:39:221st10:24:18
IRONMAN Hamburg1 Jun1winner9:01:361st9:08:47
IRONMAN Brazil1 Jun1winner8:34:211st9:12:47
IRONMAN Cairns15 Jun310:01:533rd10:08:48
IRONMAN Kaernten-Klagenfurt, Austria15 Jun1winner9:10:511st9:42:38
IRONMAN Les Sables d'Olonne-Vendee22 Jun59:05:585th9:09:18
IRONMAN Frankfurt29 Jun49:20:024th9:25:46
IRONMAN France Nice29 Jun610:58:006th10:58:10
IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz13 Jul1winner8:33:531st9:07:00
IRONMAN Lake Placid20 Jul910:28:489th10:28:48
IRONMAN Leeds29 Jul510:54:165th10:57:22
IRONMAN Canada-Ottawa3 Aug69:50:216th10:03:59
IRONMAN Kalmar-Sweden16 Aug28:43:282nd8:54:05
IRONMAN Copenhagen17 Aug58:47:155th8:47:24
IRONMAN Tallinn23 Aug28:50:542nd8:55:18
IRONMAN Switzerland Thun24 Aug1winner9:20:561st9:19:17
IRONMAN Wisconsin7 Sept1winner9:34:201st9:37:57
IRONMAN Japan South Hokkaido14 Sept1winner10:27:471st9:43:06
IRONMAN Emilia Romagna20 Sept1winner8:52:081st8:49:34
IRONMAN Maryland20 Sept29:07:062nd9:17:13
IRONMAN Wales21 Sept1winner10:33:421st10:24:32
IRONMAN Gurye Korea28 Sept1winner9:53:151st9:24:51
IRONMAN Chattanooga28 Sept1winner9:04:101st9:25:41
IRONMAN Calella-Barcelona5 Oct1winner8:55:191st8:47:42
IRONMAN Portugal-Cascais18 Oct1winner8:41:111st9:14:24
IRONMAN California19 Oct1winner8:42:591st8:48:36
IRONMAN Florida1 Nov29:15:002nd9:20:33
IRONMAN Malaysia1 Nov1winner9:54:121st9:56:57
IRONMAN Arizona16 Nov1winner9:07:511st8:58:27
IRONMAN Cozumel23 Nov1winner9:14:531st9:19:00
IRONMAN Western Australia7 Dec59:25:075th9:31:32
Last slot: the slowest M18-24 qualifier’s finish time and age-group place. Needed: the finish time that equalled the pool’s age-graded cutoff for M18-24 at that race — any faster finish earned a slot. Age-group winners qualify whatever their time. Before any rolldown.

How Kona qualifying works

Every age-group winner gets a slot. The rest of a race’s slots go by age-graded time: each finish time is multiplied by IRONMAN’s factor for the athlete’s age group, and the fastest adjusted times take the remaining slots — from 2026, in separate women’s and men’s pools. So the “needed” time differs by age group even within one race. Each race page models the allocation athlete by athlete, including rolldown.

Chasing a Kona slot in M18-24?metrica builds your season around the race and the time you need, then adapts every week. Syncs to Garmin and Wahoo; the first week is free.
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Modelled from the official results with IRONMAN’s published age-group factors; always confirm with the official race-day allocation. Plain-text version: /ironmanwc/kona-qualifying-times/m18-24.md. Not affiliated with the IRONMAN Group.