True to its name, K-Swiss’ flagship triathlon shoe, the K-Ona, was inspired by Hawaii, where the globe’s greatest athletes battle for Ironman supremacy in that competition’s World Championships on flats warmed up by the tropical sun.  Speaking of hot, now K-Swiss is introducing a new set of colorways that move beyond Hawaii, offering limited-edition flag colors to represent six great sporting countries from around the world: Australia, Brazil, Canada, German, Japan, and the United States.

There’s no doubt the technologically-savvy K-Ona is a great shoe, regardless of its styling, for both performance and health. “Ironman athletes are quickly falling in love with the latest Ironman specific running shoe from K-Swiss, the K-Ona,” Kevin Mackinnon raved on Ironman.com. “A quarter of the athletes racing [in an Ironman China event] bought themselves a pair of the lightweight wonders during the days leading up to the race and many even wore the shoes for the marathon in Hainan – a tribute to the outstanding comfort these shoes provide…

K-Swiss has utilized some anatomically correct flex-grooves that ensures you don’t have to work too hard to get onto your toes, which I’ve found really helps reduce a lot of lower leg issues, especially plantar fasciatis. It’s become a mainstay regardless of the workout – hills, intervals, steady runs all seem well-suited…

The bottom line is that K-Swiss has nailed this Ironman and triathlon-specific shoe.” That said, these new country-specific colorways enhance the whole K-Ona experience in their graphic beauty. The red-and-white geometry of the Japan edition gives it a characteristically modern, minimal beauty, while the red, yellow, and black of the German shoe impart a specific boldness when seen on the feet.

Regardless of style, these choices allow athletes to truly express their patriotism when competing: expect to see our top triathletes like Luke McKenzie, Chris Lieto, Torsten Abel, Rutger Beke, Terrenzo Bozzone, Leanda Cave, Gina Ferguson, Heather Gollnick, Belinda Granger, Matt Lieto, Kim Loeffler, Chris McDonald, Andreas Raelert, and Bree Wee flying the flag K-Ona’s crossing the line at at this year’s Ironman World Championships on October 10 in Kona Hawaii.

Making this truly a limited edition, the flag-colorway K-Onas will, true to their origins, only be available for sale at the 2009 Ironman in Kona. Then again, winning always has proved Exclusive, wherever it happens in the world …..

These limited-edition flag shoes will serve as a sneak preview for K•Swiss’ second generation ultra-lightweight K-Ona II running shoe hitting shelves in Spring 2009