IRONMAN purchased the Lagardère Sports endurance division and with it the ITU World Triathlon events in Hamburg, Stockholm, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi and Leeds, plus various cycling, running and other events that total up to an estimated 140,000 participants.

The Dalian Wanda group purchased IRONMAN in late August of 2015 for $650,000,000 and the financial strength of the Chinese brand likely made the Legardère Sports endurance purchase possible.

“Lagardère Sports has built innovative and world-class events which, when added to our global event portfolio, further builds our company and strengthens the entire endurance business under the roof of Wanda Sports Holding,” said Andrew Messick, Chief Executive Officer of IRONMAN. “These iconic events, and the teams that have created and managed them, will further strengthen our position in triathlon, expand our portfolio in running, and establish ourselves in cycling.”

It was also announced that Christian Toetzke, the current CEO of Lagardère Sports endurance division, will join the global executive team of IRONMAN as Chief Development Officer and Global Head of Cycling.

“The Lagardère Sports endurance team is excited about the new opportunities as part of the global IRONMAN organization,” added Toetzke. “With the acquisition, IRONMAN is extending its portfolio in world class running and cycling. I look forward to being a part of this growth in my new role."

But how does the ITU feel about all of this?

“Lagardère Sports has been a long-standing and fantastic partner to the ITU. It is with their commitment to the sport of triathlon that we raised the bar and brought triathlon to the masses over the last eight years. I fully believe the transition of these events to IRONMAN will serve to further strengthen our sport on a global level,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member. “Congratulations to both Lagardère Sports and IRONMAN. ITU looks forward to continuing to work together to keep triathlon a major player in the world of sports."

All events included in the acquisition from Lagardère Sports are listed below:

ITU events

- ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi
- ITU World Triathlon Cape Town
- ITU World Triathlon Hamburg
- ITU World Triathlon Leeds
- ITU World Triathlon Stockholm

Cycling

- Hamburg Cyclassics
- Velothon Berlin
- Velothon Wales
- Velothon Copenhagen
- Velothon Stockholm
- Velothon Stuttgart

Running

- Hamburg Marathon
- Hawkes Bay International Marathon
- Marathon de Bordeaux
- Queenstown Marathon
- Music Run Hamburg
- Music Runs in Germany, UK, France, Sweden & South Africa

Multisport, other

- Duathlon Cape Town
- Duathlon Sandton
- The Motatapu
- The Pioneer

There have been rumors about this Lagardère purchase for a few days now and with them came rumors that the IRONMAN European Championships might be moving from Frankfurt to Hamburg, but IRONMAN has denied that.

"Frankfurt has been a first-class IRONMAN race location for nearly 15 years and is a spectacular event on our European race calendar. We hope to extend our agreement next year and have Frankfurt continue hosting the IRONMAN European Championship. We are exploring a second IRONMAN race in Germany and have started discussion with cities to host this event," said Ellie Seifert, Director of Public Relations for IRONMAN.