Lahti, Finland, selected as host for the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, a two-day event taking place on 26-27 August 2023.
Located in the city of Lahti around 100km northeast of Finland’s capital, Helsinki, Ironman 70.3 Lahti first took place in 2018. Following the trend of recent years, Lahti will host a two-day world championship with women’s and men’s pro races taking place on alternate days.
“As we look towards the future of Ironman 70.3 World Championship racing, we have some of the most distinct and unique destinations for athletes to test their mettle in St. George, Utah, Taupō, New Zealand and now Lahti, Finland,” said Andrew Messick, Ironman president and CEO. “It is our great pleasure to be able to showcase Finland and its rich sport history and beautiful landscape to the world with this event in 2023.”
Set in a beautiful landscape of interconnected lakes, Lahti was declared Europe’s Green Capital of 2021. Also considered Finland’s sports capital, once visitors arrive in Lahti, everything is within walkable distance, including the city’s transport hub, restaurants, shopping and hotels.
“We are very proud and happy to welcome the Ironman 70.3 World Championship to Lahti in 2023,” said Lahti’s mayor, Pekka Timonen. “We have a long experience in hosting international sporting events and we are committed to providing a world-class environment for athletes and audience alike. Our goal is to share this unique experience together.”
The destination was a finalist along with Klagenfurt, Austria – home to one of Europe’s most established full Ironman competitions – and is the third European host city of the 70.3 Worlds after Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria, in 2015 and Nice, France, in 2019.
“We couldn’t be happier with our two finalists and while both locations would have served our athletes well, we are excited to bring the Ironman 70.3 World Championship to Finland for the first time,” said Diana Bertsch, senior vice president of World Championship events for Ironman. “Since the rotation of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship began in 2014 and then the two-day format in 2017, the event has seen substantial growth of global competition.
“Being able to chase new physical challenges against top competition in locations that are as different as they are beautiful are key elements we want for our Ironman 70.3 World Championship athletes and we look forward to continuing this in Lahti, Finland in 2023.”
Before athletes take on the challenge in Lahti, the next two Ironman 70.3 World Championship events will take place in St. George, Utah on 17-18 September 2021 and Taupo, New Zealand on 10-11 December 2022.
