THE RACE director of the Weymouth Ironman event has spoken of his disappointment at the cancellation of the event but says he “understands the decision".

The announcement that the Ironman 70.3 Weymouth event was going ahead was met with much scrutiny from the public, many of whom believed the town was not yet ready for an event of this magnitude.

There were objections raised by the public over allowing thousands of spectators and competitors to descend on Weymouth with Covid-19 still rife.

The backlash from the local community eventually forced those involved with the event to have a rethink, and following a meeting of Dorset’s multi-agency Safety Advisory Group the race was eventually postponed until September 2021.

The race director of the event, Dean Smith, said: “We were confident in our proposed health and safety measures and had plans in place to assuage public concerns through wider communications, but we are in a continually evolving time globally and understand the reservations from the local community.

“For us as event organisers, it was important that our athletes and the local community felt safe.

“Of course, it’s disappointing having to reschedule the race, but ultimately the safety of our athletes, volunteers, the local community and staff come first.”

Another spokesman from Ironman said that whilst there was obviously costs incurred due to the cancellation, the organisation did not want to go into specifics.

Mr Smith continued: “Having reduced the event capacity, we were confident in our capability of organising an event that would be safe for both athletes and the local community while continuing to give athletes a world-class race experience.

“However, with councillors at both Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Council requesting the event be rescheduled to 2021, the decision is completely understandable given the circumstances."

Eyes within the organisation are now turning towards the 2021 event.

“We are looking forward to returning to Weymouth to host the event and race once again as we are already planning towards next year. We want to stage an event that the people of Weymouth and Dorset are proud to call their own.

“We want to improve the event experience every year, and 2021 will be no different."