Originally Posted by Bah Humbug

Covid-19 will likely be the catalyst that forced the big change, but the seeds were being sown for years. The "standard" price of a good tri bike doubled or more in a decade. Ironman hoovered up all the attention and people did focused plans for them that wiped out the ability to support local races. The sport became (or appeared to become) too expensive for the relatively-poor next generation, who wandered into running or CrossFit or Spartan races. The 40-somethings absolutely dominate now, and cluck their tongues at the poor moral fiber of the young'uns for not having the discipline for Ironman, nevermind the difficulty of doing it these days without parental backing or the kind of career that's hard to come by in your 20s (and nevermind that you need nearly a week off to do the races now).

Triathlon (via Ironman) priced out newcomers (both in equipment and the death of local races), and the ageing of their core customers is a death knell for the sport's relevancy.

Make no mistake, it's not going to die out completely. It has been contracting, and will continue to contract, and will likely become a sport for rich old white men doing Ironman and local races in certain metro areas.