Rules are rules, you know you have to be there on time and it rolled. Happened before and will happen again. If it is that important get there early.

4th place went to the podium while the 5th place was still up there. Is it a race to the stage now? We are talking about Professional triathletes here.

Do we know that there was 4 slots?

I had looked into this race for one of my athletes and it says 1 slot men and women. So...if there were 4 people who passed on the slot and the girl in 4th...didn't go up, then decided she wanted to, that changes it a little. It's hard to think that there was 4 slots for a 10 person field, so if my guess is correct, it changes it a bit because there would have been opportunity.

Anyways - I would think neither was thinking they could get a slot and one was prepared to take it and one was not. And...I think that happens a lot with AG too. My two cents...lol

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

The people in charge of assigning slots offered her a slot.She accepted and that is as far as her responsibility lies.
The girl who missed out can take it up with Ironman.

I’m not sure I explained it well. But there is a video embedded you can fast fwd to the part where she talks about it.

There was a language barrier and some confusion. The other athlete literally went to the stage while 5th was up there.

This wasn’t a case of the other athlete missing awards and deciding to take the slot later/ it was in the moment.

5th should give it up to the 4th place finisher in my view.

But from the video she does seem to be pretty Emotional. Feel bad about throwing shade her way

I agree with you about giving it to 4th.

On the shade part just want to point out I didn’t sleuth this out. I’ve never heard of this pro and have no reason to throw shade. This was a video the athlete herself produced that appeared on my YouTube algorithm. I don’t think it is throwing shade. More of a discussion point. So far the majority agrees that her move was fair game. If there is belief I’m calling out something that should be kept private I’ll delete it.

I don't think you need to delete it. It's a weird situation - and I know of this athlete and I don't know that she probably took her pro card to get experiences and to get a worlds slot would be amazing for her. I have a couple athletes that would be in the same boat - wanting a Taupo slot. Interesting how this one was done - at Indian Wells they had the top 5 pros up and did it right there - they said yes or no and done. Would've been easier in this case for sure.

It will be interesting how it goes at some of the Pro Series races - like I think Texas has 6 slots per gender - and there will be lots of people qualified already.

Your post is fair - I read it as maybe a little aggressive like the 5th place girl did the wrong thing but it's just one of those IM things - not sure what I would do in the same situation.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

No, it's not a race to the podium; they call your name a couple of times at least: you just need to pay attention, wave your hand and reach for the stage; if you don't respond, the slot is rolled down to the next finishing athlete. Moreover, she was 4th in the division, then she should be aware they were assigning the slots in her group. Very naïve athlete IMHO, considering she's supposed to be a PRO

Just giving it to 4th already. I would definitely do that if I were her.

I'd probably give it to the 4th if it was me, but I definitely don't think anything bad from no.5 not doing that. Them's the rules. If I was no.4 I'd try to get it but also have to realize it's my own fault for not paying attention for the roll-down. That's life ;)

Also, she is a spanish-speaking person and it was done in spanish so not sure what the language issue could be. If the organization made a mistake then no.4 needs to take it up with them, no.5 didn't do anything wrong and deserves it by the regulations.

Just as an aside, for language issues I think the announcements should be done in the local language + English as a rule. If you don't understand either of these then I'd assume you'd go to the roll-down with someone who can help you...

Qualification slots have rolled for years . . . for about 40 years and 100s and 100s of races slots have rolled!! Once the have rolled, they have rolled - there is no race to stage, it rolled. Sometimes the roll goes fast, but once it rolls and is taken it is over. Now, I have no idea how this all transpired, but obviously it had rolled, and once rolled it is rolled and there is no going back. Perhaps the organizers mismanaged this in some way, but that is in no way 5th place's fault because it "rolled." IMO, calling this shady is what is out of bounds.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

This happens in AG as well. Happened to me at Gulf Coast 70.3 (I want to say 2017-2019 time frame). Got a roll down spot, had the paper in my hand and random dude that finished ahead of me came up. WTC said I had to give it back.

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IG: NCGregory8778

Got beat by 3min & 4th clearly wanted to accept the slot. I would just give it up. I don't think we need to call it shady or whatever. They're following the rules and 70.3 Worlds can be a big deal for sponsors & things like that but this probably isn't the right publicity to help with that kind of stuff.

Maybe the roll down process for pros can have a little more flexibility? IM wants AGers lined up with their checkbooks. They know they have a better chance of locking people in at awards versus emailing 1 by 1 down the age group list after the event. With pros, you're only dealing with a handful of slots. Feels like you can avoid stuff like this. You could do all of it after an event or just track down 4th & make sure you know their decision before you roll down.

The girl in 4th place is Cecilia Perez, a well known SC triathlete and two time Olympian. Given her decades of international racing, I find it very difficult to believe this was a "language barrier" solely issue.

Based on the footage:

1) Moriarty seems to be charging to the podium while she is informed that "only top three will be awarded". No one is a the podium a this time.

2) It seems as if the organizers changed their mind, then you see the girl in third place in the podium and they give Moriarty an award for 5th. While Perez is not there.

3) Now, if they re-announced that they were awarding to 5th and Perez did not go to the podium, it seems as if she wasn't at the ceremony at all? We don't know this, however, if you are interested in rolldown you have to be there.

Either way, I would surrender the spot if I were her but I also understand if she keeps it.

Same here

Wouldn’t think twice about it

Would give it to her

i have no real opinion on this but i would delete the word shady in your headline

the reality is both are over 45 min behind the male winner.
so the question is more what should be the min level a pro needs to achieve to go to the worlds

I saw this video on Instagram. It was some sprint tri race and first guy got lost and went to wrong direction right before the finish line. Second guy waited for him and made sure the first guy came back to the course and won. To me, that’s a fair play. Most people will not say anything if the second guy ignore the first guy and crosses finish line first but what a decent human being he is. He knew who’s the real winner in his heart. That’s the real champion to me. I want to be someone like that. Winning is good but not that way.

A friend of mine was there, the rule is simple, if you dont show up when your name is called, you loose the slot.

This reads like female pros also have to achieve finishing within a certain time of the males?
What's the male winning time have to do with it.

The winning female was 40 minutes behind the winning male. Should she not go to worlds?

Definitely only 1 slot per gender at this race. I'd be very surprised if anyone in the top 5 had a slot already so it's all a little odd.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Watching the youtube video recap from Rachel Olson, there were major snafoos from the race organizers...I would not be surprised if this was caused by another blunder by them...

2nd Place Campeche 70.3 || RACE RECAP (youtube.com)

Please clarify who you are calling shady. Is it R4, R5, the race organizer?

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I was there. there were just 1 or 2 slots for female pros. They called 1,2,3,4 and nobody came or came 1 girl and they called 5th place and she came and became her wc coin and was on the registration table. After 3 or 4 minutes came the other girl and wanted the slot. But it was too late. Every knows the rule, if you are not there when they call you, you loose your slot... If it had been 3 or 5 seconds late, then I would understand the claim of the other girl, but it was several minutes...

the female winner does not go to the worlds it would appear, i guess she did the numbers game to see how competitive she would be and decided against it . pure speculation of course.

at the end of the day there is no right or wrong and different people come to different conclusions, so all good.

Great question.

The entire process. More so R5 but brought on by the organizer’s allowing the athlete to make the decision at all.

Shade meaning cloud over the result. Not that she is suddenly a bad person.

Thank you. That's enough for me lol.

Remember Arthur Horseau won Lanzarote (pretty sure) and missed the awards rolldown due to either a language barrier, a shuttle delay or celebrating too hard, or some combination. IM eventually gave him the slot to Nice, but for a while they were not going to. They go over it in the pre race meetings too. If IM thinks Cecilia should go, I am sure they could give her a slot. It's not going to be 90 women down in Taupo haha.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Agree. That's on athlete 4. Still sucks but that's one of those rules literally everyone knows. I was at a race one year where they moved the awards ceremony due to weather but didn't communicate it well. A Mpro missed his slot for worlds because he was in the other location, and then still only showed up like 45 seconds late. They didn't budge even there.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Seeing how much this happens the rule is kind of silly. I get it 29yrs ago but we all have email, cell phones, etc. they could easily provide a time period to respond electronically.

Not to mention the FOMO of it all. That trip to NZ is going to be a $10k+ weekend, it would be $20k for my family. But you have seconds to decide. Perhaps people would prefer more thought.

Replying in general, but having worked south of the border for many years none of this is very surprising. Logistical nightmares are extremely commonplace down there, it's just the way things are. I wouldn't even be surprised if volunteers were handing out hot sauce at aid stations.

If it was a dude who did it he would be getting tore apart for this.

I would be all for a trip down south if they were handing out mini tacos at aid stations! I might need a few porta potty stops though....

Hard to tell from all the different recollections and stories of what 4th experienced, but aside from all that, a great chance for ironman to come in and be the white knight here. They did it last year but didnt really get the props because it felt like they were forced into it and finally caved. Just come in and make it right for 4th, take the win ironman!!!! Dont wait for some social media pressure to do the right thing, you dont get this opportunity too often, and when you do you usually fuck it up....

That's how the Challenge Family does it, but I understand IM doesn't want to wait for months to know how many slots they have filled (and that's how long the Challenge process takes, since every roll down means there is a couple more weeks for the next athlete on the list to register or ignore the e-mail). Also IM want to get paid right there and then. If they can afford to put pressure on people, why shouldn't they. Folks vote with their wallets.



Isn't there plenty of time to think before you've raced the qualification race?

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Great point. An opportunity for IM to make it right and offer 4 a slot. They don’t even have to take away 5th. They are partly to blame here after all


Regarding Mexico, I’ve raced in Cabo. It’s a good experience but not on the same level as a 🇺🇸 race. Seems to be a franchised version of IM. So perhaps 🇺🇸 Im hands are tied.

This. You should know if you want to go for sure prior. It shouldn't be a see if you can scramble the money situation...lol

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Glad shady was taken out of the headline but disagree with the rest of this. Dk what male to female gap has to do with anything. There are way more male triathletes in this sport. Just look at the Oceanside start list. The slots are & should be equal. Hopefully more women start triathlon younger & races continue to build depth. But it's not that out of the realm of possibility to see a gap like this. T100 winners were 18min apart, & those are top athletes. Chelsea Sodaro won 70.3 Tasmania & was 25min off of the men's winner. Again, another big name there. This wasn't an IM Pro Series race. It had a $20k prize purse and they only have one tier under that. The men's winner is also an emerging athlete, after putting together a really solid season last year. The top-2 men were a lot better on paper than everyone else in both fields. The winner's gap to the 3rd place men's finisher comes pretty close to the Sodaro gap. Bottom line is if someone wanted a slot there was nothing keeping them from entering this race. Gross conditions slowed things down across the board.

From looking at some of the videos of this race, there's a lot more to be concerned with than the roll down. Looked like pros crashed on the bike because of athletes riding at them.

It's surely 100% within the letter of the rules, but seems to be outside the spirit of the rules. It's not that 1st/2nd/3rd/4th didn't earn a spot, it's that they didn't follow IM's ridiculous and predatory policy.

The spirit of this particular rule though seems to be maximizing cash-in-hand for the IM organization. Take people at their most excited, coming off a peak performance, you're only allowed to go to the EXCLUSIVE EVENT if you pay for it RIGHT NOW! Don't wait! You'll lose your spot!

The whole system has timeshare sales pitch vibes. They're one step removed from having a credit card swipe at the finish line.

They've got everyone's email address. I know because I get 17 emails a day from them. How about you have 10 days after the event to claim your slot?

Pros actually don't even have to pay on the spot for world champs.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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if you are saying that a race that race that awards pro slots for worlds should have a certain strength of field or price money level i would not disagree with your point . i hope its ok that i reverse engineer your argument, and it does not have to be a top level race but lets say at least 1 tier up.

and i also agree the male winner is an emerging talent but not yet to no 1 in the world but i think we can agree that his perofrmacne was a good bit better than 2rth or 5 place female. with winner female you could argue she just did enough to win.
but again if you say there should be a certain price money level attached to a world champ slot i agree with you.

at the same time its great that ironman has development pro races they are very important to get to the next level. like continental cups are very important in short course.

I mean we've got someone complaining on the Oceanside thread about mid-pack pros & races like this one (races set up for mid pack pros) seem to be disappearing from the calendar. Now we've got people over here asking if worlds slots should be given out to women at this race. I'm saying the strength of the women's field here was fine & that they deserve their slots. I think the men's winner was a bit of an anomaly at a race like this. I have no issue at all with the women's race. Maybe 1st did race to win &, if so, then what does a time gap matter. Pro racing doesn't have to just be one big time trial for every athlete. Long course racing can be a lot of fun when people are still racing close to the finish line. Races like this are huge for athletes to pick up prize money, experience, and world championship slots.

If you're a pro, I would suspect that you you generally know if you're going to accept a slot to the WC well in advance - even if its a relative long-shot.

For an age grouper, way down the list and it rolls it might be a different story.

If I got a 70.3 slot like this (I will not, not a good enough pro) I'd give it to 4th, if they gave me that option. That's a question I have, can she even do that after signing the paper??

However, this is not my career. It's something I'm doing for "fun" on the side of a full time job and being a dad, so I get how it could be different for someone that needs this for sponsors, growth, money, whatever.

I didn't think there is a "bad guy" in this case. Just unfortunate. And IM has a change to be the "good guy" by diffusing the whole thing with an extra slot for 4th. Here's hoping.

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Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
http://instagram.com/tgarvey4

Regardless of where you stood on this - Congrats to Cecilia Perez, athlete #4 who won 70.3 Peru (with one slot on offer) and got her slot to Taupo. Extremely solid race. Anyways - all is right in the world!

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Fantastic