Wanda Sports, the newly formed subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda signed a partnership deal with Xiamen’s governing body last Thursday (December 24) which will see Xiamen host Ironman events from next November.

In accordance with the deal, the World Triathlon Corporation's (WTC) flagship events, Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, will be held in the coastal city in Fujian Province. From next year's Xiamen event, 15 athletes will qualify to attend the Ironman World Championship to be held in Kona, Hawaii in 2017. As well as this, 50 will qualify to attend the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Xiamen is also expected to hold the Ironman event in 2017.

Dalian Wanda finalized its acquisition of the WTC at $650 million on November 19. After a month of careful consideration, the Chinese conglomerate chose Xiamen as the first Chinese city to host the event. 

Wanda Sports is aiming to make Ironman the largest competition participation platform in China. It is expected that the sports company will add two or three more Chinese cities to its Ironman partnership portfolio in 2016 and further cities in 2017. 

Source: The Beijing News & PRNewswire

Proofread by John Devlin