Olympic and World Champions Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden will headline a 40-strong professional field at Challenge Xiamen on November 7, 2026.
The Norwegian rivals arrive in China following performances at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, where Blummenfelt took the silver medal with a record run split, finishing 18 seconds behind Hayden Wilde. Iden recorded the fastest bike split on the day to finish fourth.
Blummenfelt’s season highlights also include a second-place finish at DATEV Challenge Roth, where he recorded a 2:29:33 marathon to complete the course in 7:26:24. Iden, a two-time 70.3 World Champion and 2022 IRONMAN World Champion, secured second place at the European Championship in Frankfurt earlier this season.
Course and event details
The middle-distance event features a 1.9km ocean swim, 90km bike, and 21.1km run set along the Huandong Romantic Coast in Tongan Bay:
- Swim (1.9km): A two-lap course starting from the beach at Meifeng Sports Park
- Bike (90km): A three-lap, flat coastal circuit
- Run (21.1km): A four-lap route along a waterfront running path
Located 15km from Xiamen Airport and 10km from Xiamen North Railway Station, the venue hosts a €25,000 professional prize purse as part of a multi-sport weekend on November 7–8, 2026.
Alongside the main event, the schedule includes Olympic and sprint-distance triathlons, a duathlon, and junior races, with over 2,500 total participants expected.
The race previously received the 2024 Challenge Family Award for Best New Race and a Forbes China Sports Innovation Award.
