Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice and President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Area, and Andrew Messick, CEO of The IRONMAN Group, announced that Nice, the historic home of triathlon, had been selected to co-host the IRONMAN World Championship alongside Hawaii.
The men’s 2023 edition of the IRONMAN World Championship will take place in Nice on September 10, 2023, consolidating Nice’s position as the number one long-distance triathlon city in Europe and a major sports destination that hosts numerous global sporting events.
The women’s edition will be held in Hawaii on October 14, 2023.
In 2024, the men will go to Kona, Hawaii, and the women will go to Nice, and the rotation will continue until 2026, with both cities jointly hosting the flagship triathlon event.
“This is a wonderful recognition for our city and the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis” said Christian Estrosi.
“It is also recognition for everything that Nice has contributed to this discipline in terms of expertise and organization for the past 40 years! Nice is now on par with Hawaii, where these World Championships have been held in Kailua-Kona every year for over forty years,” he added.
The choice of the City of Nice was made thanks to “the relationship of trust that has been built between Nice and IronMan,” explained Andrew Messick.
“This partnership, which has been ongoing for several years, gave us the assurance that this is where we could organize the IronMan World Championship for the first time in Europe. This is an opportunity for a course that promises to be extraordinary,” he said.
IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NICE
Triathlon in Nice since 1982:
As the birthplace of triathlon in France and Europe, Nice has hosted the biggest global events of the discipline. A history of over 40 years began in 1982 with the hosting of the International Nice Triathlon until 2004 (23 editions), which continued from 2005 with the Ironman Nice (17 editions hosted since). Since 2018, the City of Nice has hosted the IRONMAN 70.3 (3 editions), including the historic first-ever IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in 2019.
The discipline includes 60,000 licensed triathletes in France and is represented in Nice by eight clubs for 365 licensed members, including : Team Nissa Triathlon, which is supported by the city (Thomas Navarro and Maxim Chane). The Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur Sports, Nice Triathlon Club, the ASSPN Triathlon 06, and the GSEM.
A major sports event with a positive impact for Nice Côte d’Azur
This event will close a season of 40 IRONMAN events around the world (including the IRONMAN in Nice) where over 94,000 athletes compete for qualifying spots for the World Championship.
Nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend the event in Nice, including:
- 2,500 to 3,000 triathletes expected in Nice
- 90% of whom are foreigners and over 100 nationalities represented
- 1,800 volunteers
- 100 members of the organizing staff
- 100 accredited media
This major event will generate strong economic benefits:
€4 million in economic benefits for the IRONMAN in Nice annually
In 2019: The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships generated €22.5 million in economic benefits with a record sale of merchandise
In 2023: We can expect record benefits based on these figures, considering that a study conducted by IRONMAN predicts an average spending of €200 per person per day and an average stay of 7 days in Nice.
There will also be significant media benefits:
- Usually broadcast live on the L’Equipe channel
- Hundreds of hours of coverage
- Nearly 5 million views on the Facebook Watch page
The benefits will be shared with the entire territory, including the 19 municipalities crossed by the cycling event:
7 in the Metropolitan Area: Carros, Gattières, La Gaude, Le Broc, Saint-Jeannet, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Vence
And 12 outside the Metropolitan Area, most of which are members of the Regional Natural Park of the Préalpes d’Azur.
2023, an extraordinary year for sports in Nice
The city will host several recurring events such asthe Prom Classic, the arrival of Paris-Nice on March 11 and 12, 2023 for its 90th anniversary, the Nice International Half-Marathon in April, the CASE International Pétanque in June, the combined IRONMAN and 70.3 on June 25, and the Nice-Cannes Marathon on November 5.
In 2023, Nice Côte d’Azur will also host exceptional new events:
- The Hopman Cup in July at the Nice LTC courts
- The IRONMAN World Championships
- The Rugby World Cup with 4 matches at the Allianz Riviera between September 16 and 24
- And the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB from September 28 to October 1 (an event for which the IRONMAN Group is also involved as a partner of the UTMB World Series)
Looking ahead to 2024, there will also be an intense schedule of events:
- The historic arrival of the Tour de France in Nice
- The football events of the 2024 Olympics
- The Women’s IRONMAN World Championship
And in 2025: the hosting of the Gravel World Championships in Nice.
