Shannon Eckstein will put his foot on the line in an ironman race one last time as part of WA Race Week in November

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THE GOAT is back.

Just let the record show that his return isn’t some timely homage to Michael Jordan and ‘The Last Dance.’

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Legendary ironman Shannon Eckstein will put his foot on the starting line one more time after an iron person race was added to the WA Race Week calendar.

Legendary ironman Shannon Eckstein is coming out of retirement one last time to compete at an ironman event in Perth in November. Picture: Jerad Williams

The invitational-only event lands in the middle of Race Week, a ski festival which culminates in the 27km Doctor race from Rottnest Island to Perth, and will feature the top five men and women from the Nutri-Grain series, as well as a host of wildcards.

Eckstein, 37, had already committed to racing in Perth come November but couldn’t say yes fast enough when he was offered a place in the $20,000 one-off ironman event.

Just don’t call it a comeback.

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“My days as a professional ironman are officially over but I’ve been doing a bit of ocean ski paddling and have really enjoyed it,” Eckstein said.

“The organisers wanted to hold an ironman race before the Nipper clinic which we ran last year but by no means does it mean I’m making a comeback.

“It’s more of an exhibition race.”

The eight-time Australian ironman winner has tipped the likes of Ali Day, Kendrick Louis, Matt Poole, Matt Bevilacqua, Jordan Mercer and Danielle McKenzie to all be lured to Perth in November.

Legendary ironman Shannon Eckstein is coming out of retirement one last time to compete at an ironman event in Perth in November. Picture: Jerad Williams

And with April marking one year since his retirement from the sport, Eckstein said he would relish the chance to take on all his old foes one last time.

“You definitely miss it (racing) at times and you do go through phases where you think you could’ve gone around one more year but other times, you enjoy sleeping in,” he said.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t missed it.”

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Eckstein, who last year balanced a new full-time job with travelling around Australia and the world to compete in ocean ski races, admitted that he wouldn’t be in a huge rush to launch back into full ironman training ahead of November’s showdown.

“I’ll take it as it comes but things changed when you retire and your family and your job become your number one priority,” he said.

“It’s going to be a short course race so I think it will be super competitive.”