It is no surprise that the Standard Bank Ironman African Championship received glowing accolades when Ironman released its 2017 Athlete’s Choice Awards yesterday.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development Tourism and Agriculture, Cllr Andrew Whitfield, made this statement a day after Ironman, a Wanda Sports Holdings company, released the results gathered from athlete surveys from all the 2017 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races globally.

Out of the 40 full Ironman and more than 100 Ironman 70.3 events around the world, the Standard Bank Ironman African Championship, held annually in Port Elizabeth, was selected third overall in Race Venue, second overall in Host City Experience and first overall in the Overall Swim, Overall Bike and Overall Run course.

"We are not surprised that Nelson Mandela Bay is ranked so highly by international athletes as we are a unique tourist destination with a great product offering that can compete with any other destination in the world.

"Paul Wolff, Keith Bowler and the rest of the team at Ironman South Africa further enhance what we have to offer by organising world class events, in collaboration with a collective of municipal officials, every year.

"The results of the awards show that our hard work is not going unnoticed and must be continuously improved on.

"I am confident that the Standard Bank Ironman African Championship in April and the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September will prove to be world class events as well,” MMC Whitfield said.

To view the full IRONMAN Athlete’s Choice award results, please visit: http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2018/02/ironman-athletes-choice-awards.aspx#axzz56sziTRfv

For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media may contact mediasa@ironman.com. 

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Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Media Management Officer Kupido Baron (082 780 2726 / 041 506 1500 / kbaron@mandelametro.gov.za / @kupidobaron).