Salomon will become an IRONMAN Global Premier Partner from 2027 under a five-year agreement that runs to 2031. The deal gives the French brand exclusive rights across performance footwear, apparel and technical bags within IRONMAN, and makes it the title partner of the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, from 2027. It replaces Hoka as IRONMAN's official running shoe partner.
The visibility on offer goes well beyond the championship. At every IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 event the organisation owns, Salomon will hold naming rights to the run course, which will become the Salomon Run Course. The brand will also be title or presenting partner of selected races, including Oceanside, Texas, Chattanooga, Lanzarote, Lake Placid, Oregon and Jones Beach, and will have a presence at IRONMAN-owned events in the United States and Europe.
The partnership formally begins in 2027, but Salomon will not wait that long to appear. Its first activation is planned for the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona on 7 and 8 October, which means the outgoing and incoming footwear partners will share the sport's biggest stage in the same fortnight.
For Salomon, the deal is a statement about where it wants to sell shoes. The brand's reputation was built in the mountains, on trail running and winter sports, and its presence in road running has grown only in recent seasons through racing and daily training models. Triathletes spend heavily on equipment and run almost entirely on roads, and a named run course at every IRONMAN-owned event puts Salomon in front of exactly the audience it needs to win on tarmac.
For Hoka, losing IRONMAN removes one of its most visible platforms in endurance sport, at a time when the brand is expanding into mainstream retail, including its new rollout through Academy Sports in the United States. Partner rights do not dictate what individual triathletes race in, and Hoka shoes will remain common on IRONMAN run courses. But the logos along the course, and the name on the Kona finish line, will change in 2027.