TAMPA, Fla. (May 22, 2019) – IRONMAN, a Wanda Sports Holdings company, announced today the Hawaiian word `Ohana, which in the Hawaiian culture represents a specially bonded extended family, will be the theme for the 2019 IRONMAN® season, culminating at the IRONMAN World Championship®, held annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i. Throughout the course of the 2019 IRONMAN® and IRONMAN® 70.3®event season, the theme will be on display in a variety of ways, leading up to the IRONMAN World Championship taking place on Saturday, October 12.
Since 1978, IRONMAN has embraced the Hawaiian culture and the roots established there as the birthplace of the original IRONMAN competition and home of the globally revered IRONMAN World Championship. The concept of `ohana is important to IRONMAN as it represents the special bond that our greater community of athletes, volunteers, supporters and partners share. In 2019, IRONMAN will honor and celebrate those who have become a part of the IRONMAN `Ohana over the last 40.
“Being part of an `ohana comes with responsibility and an expectation to act with integrity and purpose – not only towards your `ohana, but also as a representation of your `ohana,” said Diana Bertsch, Senior Vice President, World Championship Events of IRONMAN. “It is acting with righteousness, being mindful, and making a sincere effort to learn, understand, and respect. These virtues – responsibility, integrity, purpose, righteousness, mindfulness, and sincerity – encapsulate the IRONMAN community.”
“We are pleased to announce “`Ohana” as our theme for the 2019 IRONMAN World Championship and the races leading up to our pinnacle event,” said Andrew Messick, President and Chief Executive Officer of IRONMAN. “From the amazing athletes who participate in our events, to their family and friends that support them in their training, to the staff and volunteers in our host cities who spend countless hours working tirelessly to put together amazing events all over the globe – they are all members of our IRONMAN `Ohana. We are grateful to be able to pay tribute to all of the members of our extended family and celebrate our Hawaiian heritage.”
Throughout the year and in the lead up to Kona®, IRONMAN will educate, celebrate, and grow the IRONMAN `Ohana through event activation, signage, gear, merchandise and initiatives like IRONMAN: Class Of. This will all culminate in Kailua-Kona for the 41st year of the IRONMAN World Championship when the legends of the sport, current professionals, age-groupers and the rest of the IRONMAN `Ohana come together to honor one another through shared bonds, celebrating the spirit of competition and the love of triathlon.
To celebrate the selection of `ohana as the theme of the 2019 IRONMAN World Championship, IRONMAN has introduced brand imagery that reflects IRONMAN’s Hawaiian beginnings. The `ohana-themed graphics feature the yellow hibiscus, the state flower of Hawai`i. Representing unity and family, the imagery showcases people at the center of the flower, as well as the rolling waves of the ocean flowing behind the Hibiscus. Look out for the Hibiscus badge throughout 2019 as a reminder of the incredible spirit of the IRONMAN `Ohana.
