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This weekend's Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga will attract some of the most talented athletes the race has seen to date.
"The professional field set to compete is unquestionably one of the deepest in recent history," said Andrew Messick, chief executive officer for Ironman.
The race attracts previous champions and the world's top triathletes.
Some names will be familiar to those who have attended Ironman events in Chattanooga in the past. Two-time Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga champion Heather Jackson will compete in the women's field, and 2016 men's winner Sebastian Kienle will try for his record-setting third Ironman 70.3 world championship win.
"With two wins and two runner-ups, I'm the most successful athlete at the 70.3 World Championships," Kienle wrote in an email to the Times Free Press. "With these results comes the 'burden' of high expectations, from yourself and from the outside. I love the format, and I love the venue here in Chattanooga. It would be a huge accomplishment to take the win here."
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 5/22/16. Sam Appleton from Warrimoo Australia runs along Walnut Street before taking second place in the 2016 Sunbelt Bakery Ironman 70.3 event in downtown Chattanooga on Sunday, May 22. In addition to his world championship success in Ironman 70.3, Kienle was the 2014 Ironman World Champion in Kona, Hawaii. He will be up against the likes of the highly ranked Australian duo of Tim Reed, the reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion, and Sam Appleton, who placed second to Kienle in the 2016 Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga.
The race will be without one of the world's top triathletes and two-time Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee, who made his Ironman 70.3 debut this year with a win at the North American Championships. His season ended with an injury.
"Even with Alistair Brownlee not racing, it is a very championship-worthy field," Kienle wrote. "Javier Gomez, who won the 70.3 Worlds in 2014, will be very hard to beat. In a non-Olympic year, there are more short-course guys willing to try a new format."
Gomez - the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, 2015 runner-up and 2012 Olympic silver medalist - returns after a 2016 accident broke his elbow and caused him to miss the 2016 Olympics.
Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches, 24, had his best career finish in May's Ironman 70.3 in Chattanooga and returns to race for the men's world championship.
The young Canadian led nearly start to finish but ran out of energy in the final miles of the half-marathon and ultimately took third for his first podium finish. That experience in Chattanooga could prove crucial for himself and other racers.
"It's good to be familiar. It's simpler. You know where to get food. You know where to train, so it takes away a lot of stress," Desroches said.
Kienle shared a similar belief.
"I arrived here with a very positive feeling," he wrote. "I liked it here last year and the mind plays a big role. It was almost like coming home thanks to my great homestay. I had the opportunity to race on some parts of the this year's course last year, so I had something to look forward to. I also love the vibes of Chattanooga."
The men's field is loaded with talent, but the women's field is an absolute juggernaut.
"On the women's side I think it is the strongest field ever at 70.3 Worlds," Kienle wrote.
Jackson will face 2014 and 2015 Ironman 70.3 world champion and defending Ironman world champion Daniela Ryf. Holly Lawrence also returns to defend her 2016 Ironman 70.3 world championship. Attempts to contact Jackson for comment were unsuccessful.
If that isn't enough to keep the podium race exciting, two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion and 2016 runner-up Melissa Hauschildt will be racing, but she may not finish as the top racer from her home country. Fellow Australian Sarah Crowley is also in the field and has multiple Ironman 70.3 wins to her name.
Heather Wurtele, who has been on the Ironman 70.3 World Championship podium each of the last three years, will also be in the field.
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6361. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoors.