Ironman announced today that due to circumstances beyond their control, the 2016 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne which was scheduled to take place in March, has been cancelled.
This cancellation decision is a result of challenges that have arisen due to a scheduling conflict with another major event in the Melbourne calendar.
“Holding both events on the same day was explored; however, the impact on the city, surrounding communities, roads and emergency services was not manageable for an event to be delivered in Melbourne to the level required for our athletes’ safety and satisfaction,” said CEO for Ironman Asia-Pacific, Geoff Meyer. “Furthermore, Ironman athletes would be affected by increased travel expenses over these high demand dates in Melbourne.”
“For the past four years we have delivered a truly outstanding and world-class event that has brought close to 10,000 athletes from across the globe to the city of Melbourne. We sincerely thank the Victorian Government and all of our event partners for their involvement during this period,” Meyer added. “This was not an easy decision as the event has become a much loved one by athletes and the Ironman community all over the world.”
All athletes registered for the 2016 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne will be contacted with race transfer and race refund options. Of the 75 slots available from this race for the 2016 Ironman World Championship, 65 will be distributed across Cairns Airport Ironman Cairns, Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Australia Port Macquarie; the remaining 10 slots will be allocated among athletes who transfer into another race. Additional details are available on www.ironman.com/melbourne; specific distribution of slots will be announced in the coming weeks. Ironman is currently looking at options for a new location for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Championship which will be announced at a later date.
