With the new Ironman World Championship qualifications system, this has created a lot of confusion — especially around questions like:
- What finish times actually qualify now?
- How does age-grading work?
- What bike and run power levels are typical for athletes “in the mix”?
Under the new system, Kona qualification is no longer based purely on finishing position within your age group.
Instead:
- Each athlete’s finish time is age-graded using a Kona Standard multiplier
- Athletes are ranked by adjusted (age-graded) time
- Kona slots are awarded to the fastest age-graded performances, not just the fastest raw times
Age-group winners still receive automatic slots, but the majority now come from this performance pool.
The goal:
Reward relative performance, not just being in a small or weak age group.
So what is the standard?
The Kona Standard is a multiplier assigned to each age group, based on historical Kona results.
- The fastest age group (Men 30–34 and Women 30–34) is set at 1.000
- Older age groups have lower multipliers
- Your raw finish time is multiplied by your age-group standard to produce an age-graded time
Example
A 9:30 finish in Men 45–49 (multiplier ≈ 0.94):
9:30 × 0.94 ≈ 8:56 (age-graded time)
That 8:56 is what you’re ranked on — not the 9:30.
These are not guarantees, but realistic benchmarks.
KONA STANDARD – Age-Grading Multipliers
Multipliers approximate the relative competitiveness of each age group vs the fastest age group at Kona.
| Age Group | Men | Women |
| 18-24 | 0.9698 | 0.8567 |
| 25-29 | 0.9921 | 0.8961 |
| 30-34 | 1.0000 | 0.8977 |
| 35-39 | 0.9895 | 0.8866 |
| 40-44 | 0.9683 | 0.8707 |
| 45-49 | 0.9401 | 0.8501 |
| 50-54 | 0.9002 | 0.8125 |
| 55-59 | 0.8667 | 0.7778 |
| 60-64 | 0.8262 | 0.7218 |
| 65-69 | 0.7552 | 0.6828 |
| 70-74 | 0.6876 | 0.6439 |
| 75-79 | 0.6768 | 0.5521 |
| 80-84 | 0.5555 | TBD |
| 85-89 | 0.5416 | TBD |
Who cares about the multiplier, give me finish times…….
| Age Group | Men | Women |
| 25-29 | ~8:50 | ~9:35 |
| 30-34 | ~8:55 | ~9:40 |
| 35-39 | ~9:00 | ~9:45 |
| 40-44 | ~9:15 | ~10:00 |
| 45-49 | ~9:30 | ~10:15 |
| 50-54 | ~9:50 | ~10:40 |
| 55-59 | ~10:05 | ~11:05 |
| 60-64 | ~10:30 | ~11:30 |
| 65-69 | ~11:00 |
So what does this mean in watts per kg
Watts Per Kg for Men
| Age Group | Bike | Run |
| 25-29 | 3.1-3.4 | 3.5-3.9 |
| 30-34 | 3.1-3.4 | 3.5-3.9 |
| 35-39 | 3.0-3.3 | 3.4-3.8 |
| 40-44 | 2.9-3.2 | 3.3-3.7 |
| 45-49 | 2.8-3.1 | 3.2-3.6 |
| 50-54 | 2.7-3.0 | 3.1-3.5 |
| 55-59 | 2.6-2.9 | 3.0-3.4 |
| 60-64 | 2.4-2.8 | 2.8-3.2 |
Watts Per Kg for Women
| Age Group | Bike | Run |
| 25-29 | 2.7-3.0 | 3.1-3.5 |
| 30-34 | 2.7-3.0 | 3.1-3.5 |
| 35-39 | 2.6-2.9 | 3.0-3.4 |
| 40-44 | 2.5-2.8 | 2.9-3.3 |
| 45-49 | 2.4-2.7 | 2.8-3.2 |
| 50-54 | 2.3-2.6 | 2.7-3.1 |
| 55-59 | 2.2-2.5 | 2.6-3.0 |
| 60-64 | 2.0-2.3 | 2.4-2.8 |
TRAIN SMOOTH 