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Analysis

Ironman Races from 1978 to 2013

The post looks at Ironman Races from 1978 to 2023. How did the series grow from its humble beginnings in 1978 to more than 40 full-distance events under the Ironman label? All in all, I could identify 67 different Ironman races across the globe in these years – some of them no longer being held in recent years. As usual, my specific focus is on Professional racing. Up until 2014, Ironman races always had a Pro category (as noted below with one exception), in recent years more and more events are held as an agegroup-only event.

Overview

Here’s a graphical overview of the Ironman history, showing the number of races and their geographical distribution (click for a hi-res file):

All IM Events

Main developments:

  1. In the early years, Hawaii was the only Ironman event. After Honolulu from 1978 to 1980 the location was moved to Kona on Big Island.
  2. The first international events added were New Zealand (Auckland) and Japan (both 1985) followed by Canada (Penticton) in 1986. After that it was Europe (Roth) and Australia (Foster) in 1988. Lanzarote (added in 1992) is the oldest event that is still held in its original location.
  3. The next expansions started around 2000: Switzerland in 1997, followed by Austria and Brasil in 1998. Lake Placid and Florida in 1999 were the first US additions. In 2000 and 2002, four new events per year were added.
  4. The expansion of the race continued at a steady but more leisurely pace in the 2000s. WTC also started to eliminate non-Ironman-branded events as Kona qualifiers, such as Wildflower, St. Anthony’s or Chicago.
  5. In 2008, WTC (owner of the Ironman brand) was sold to Private Equity, and they started to take over licensed events and to run them on their own rather than licensing the Ironman brand to other organizers. They also added more races: Five new events in 2012 and a record six new events in 2014. With 35 Pro races, 2014 also had the largest number of Pro events on the full distance – “Peak Pro Ironman”. 2014 was also the year with the most Pros, 662 athletes finished a professional ironman, compared to 519 in 2006 and 489 in 2023.
  6. Starting with the 2015 season, not all Ironman events also offered a Pro category. Before that, AG-only events were very rare (the only one I was able to confirm was IM Malaysia 2010, the other “grey blip” in the graph above from 2005 to 2007 was from single-gender Pro races). In 2015 there were  nine AG-only events and ten in 2016, almost all of them in North America. (That number went up to 15 AG-only events in 2023.) Ironman also re-introduced “single-gender Pro” races and rolled this out to more events, in many years there are three or four “race pairs”. (Each single-gender event counts as half a Pro event and half an AG event in the totals.)
  7. The total number of Ironman events stayed almost the same between 2015 and 2019 but each year there were typically three new races – and three events that were discontinued.
  8. With Covid, there was of course a huge reduction of racing and Pro racing in 2020 (only 3 events) and in 2021.
  9. The number of events increased after Covid, but a growing number AG-only races and single-gender Pro events led to a reduction of Pro Ironman races: From 35 Pro events in 2014 the number went down to only 21 races in 2023.

Which changes in Ironman racing are we going to see in the next years? Which impact is the new Ironman Pro Series going to have?

I also expect another major change in Pro racing: The current qualifying system for the World Championships started as “only Ironman champions will race in Kona”, now races have up to six Pro qualifying slots! I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Ironman Pro Series as the main way to qualify for Kona. There might be some additional Pro races, but likely with a smaller prize purse. What will a reduced number of Pro events mean for the overall number of Ironman races?

North America

Here’s a more detailed look at the North American races in 2005, 2013 and 2023, clearly showing an “inverted V” (first an up, then a down) of Pro racing in North America:

Event 2005 2014 2023
IM Hawaii X X W
IM Texas X X
IM Coeur d’Alene M X X
IM Lake Placid W X X
IM Mont Tremblant X W
IM Canada X X
IM Wisconsin X X
IM Boulder X
IM Chattanooga X
IM Louisville X
IM Cozumel X X
IM Los Cabos X
IM Arizona X X
IM Florida X X X
IM Maryland X
Total 6 14 7

For 2023, you might add IM Canada which was planned in Penticton but had to be canceled a few days before the race because of wildfires.

Europe

Here’s a similar table for European Pro races:

Event 2005 2014 2023
IM Lanzarote X X X
IM Austria X X X
IM Germany X X W
IM France X X M+M
IM Switzerland X X M
IM Sweden X W
IM Wales X W
IM UK X X
IM Copenhagen X
IM Mallorca X
IM Barcelona X
IM Hamburg M
IM Vitoria W
IM Italy M
IM Portugal X
Total 6 11 7,5

Even though single-gender races started in North America, in 2023 there were a lot more in Europe. With Nice, they even had a location that had two men’s races in the same year: First, IM France as a qualifying race for MPRO, then the men’s World Championships in September.

Deep Dive Into the 2023 Triathlon Money List

After the dip in racing and prize money during the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, we’ve now had two almost normal years of  Pro racing. This post looks at the overall trends and which athletes have been making good money in different categories.

If you want to check out the 2022 analysis, you can find it in my post “Deep Dive Into 2022 Triathlon Money List“.

Money List – Overview

First, here is an overview of the races that are included in the money lists and comparisons to the 2022 and 2019 seasons. The totals are shown in US$, for races that paid their prize purse in a different currency the amounts have been converted into US$.

Type Description Total Money
2023
Change
to 2022
Total Money
2022
# Pro Events
2023 (2022)
Ironman WTC Ironman-branded races $ 2.624.400 – 21% $ 3.338.400 26 (27)
70.3 WTC 70.3-branded races $ 1.758.000 + 12% $ 1.566.100 45 (42)
PTO PTO races (incl. Bonus Pool) $ 3.769.500 – 32% $ 5.563.000 4 (4)
Challenge Challenge- and Clash-branded full and half-distance
races (incl. Bonus Pool)
$ 934.408 + 15% $ 811.920 30 (20)
WTCS World Triathlon Championship Series (incl. Bonus Pool) $ 1.840.000 – 5% $ 1.930.000 9 (8)
SuperLeague SuperLeague Professional Events $ 850.000 – 14% $ 987.000 5 (6)
Other Independent Races (e.g Embrun, XTerra
World Championships, Alpe D’Huez)
$ 716.890 – 12% $ 814.745  26 (24)
Total   $ 12.493.198 – 17% $ 15.011.165   145 (131)

Some observations:

  • Ironman prize money is down by 21% compared to 2022, but that is mostly due to two World Championship events in 2022 which each paid US$ 750.000.
  • Prize money for 70.3s is slightly up, partly because of a small increase in the number of Pro events but also better prize purses. The average money per race has gone up from 37k to 39k. 
  • In previous years, the PTO money has significantly increased. For 2023 they have taken a step back, most of it is because they have skipped the well-paid Collins Cup in favour of preparing for an extended race calendar in 2024. (Details haven’t been announced yet, but there are rumored to be six to eight races on the PTO Tour after three this year.) The PTO events (including their Bonus payments) have the highest average purse at 942k per event. 
  • In 2023, Challenge have extended their race calendar from 20 events last year to 30 races. Even with Clash (counted in the Challenge category) no longer offering Pro purses, Challenge have also increased their prize money by 15%. 
  • Even with one additional event, WTCS numbers are slightly down after restructuring their prize purses. Their average purse (including their Bonus Pool) has gone down from 240k to 204k. 
  • SuperLeague is another well-paying short-course series – with one fewer event their prize money has slightly decreased in 2023, but they still pay 170k on average.
  • The number of independent races that are included has stabilized at a high level. Most of these are smaller events that are just at the minimum 10k US$ to be included in the PTO World Rankings.

At the end of 2023, Ironman have announced their own bonus structure to be paid at the end of 2024. Therefore, here’s a look over a longer period at the development of the Prize Money paid by WTC over the years for Ironman and 70.3 races:

Some key numbers and observations:

  • In 2015, the first year I have usable prize money data for all WTC events, just under 5.35 Mill.US$ was paid to professional athletes, 2.9 Mill.US for 31 Ironman races (an average of 94.2kUS$ per Ironman) and 2.4 Mill.US$ for 68 70.3 races (35.7k US$ per 70.3 on average).
  • The total money was about the same for 2016, with the total money for Ironman races going slightly down and the amount for 70.3s slightly up (mainly because their number also went up to 75 events).
  • Up to 2019, the total WTC prize money has declined to 4.6 Mill.US$, 2.47 Mill. for Ironman (32 events, average purse of 77k) and 2.15 Mill. for 70.3s (71 events, average purse of 30k).
  • With the severely reduced racing in 2020 and 2021, the prize purses also went down. 
  • With two Ironman World Championships in 2022, the money for Ironman races went up to 3.3 Mill (27 events, average of 123.6k) while the 70.3 money went down to 1.57 Mill (42 Pro events, average of 37k).
  • The overall money went down again in 2023, with a total of 4.38 Mill US$ it is the lowest number since 2015 (excluding the Covid years). Money for Ironman races was at 2.6 Mill. (26 events, some of them single-gender races, average of 101k), while 70.3s paid a total of 1.76 Mill US$ (45 events, average of 39k USD, the highest ever average)
  • Ironman’s “Pro Series” will pay a total end-of year bonus of 1.7 Mill. They are not changing the money directly paid at these events, and it’ll be interesting to see if the series will have an impact on the number of Pro events (and the money paid out) throughout the year.

Overall Money List

Anne Haug is the overall leader of the 2023 Triathlon Money List, earning just over 335.00 US$. With the reduced PTO money this is less than last year’s top earner Kristian Blummenfelt (he made almost 500.000 US$ in 2022), but still a fair bit up form the 2021 top earner. (Daniela Ryf made 244.000 in 2021.) The number of athletes making more than $100.000 is only slightly lower this year, there were 29 athletes in 2023 compared to 33 in 2022. There was a total of 818 athletes who were able to earn prize money in 2023, up from 762 athletes in 2022.

Photo: Anne Haug wins the PTO European Open, provided by the PTO.

# Name Nation Sex Total Ironman 70.3 PTO Challenge WTCS SuperLeague Other
1 Anne Haug GER F $335,788 $65,000 $3,000 $250,000 $17,788      
2 Kristian Blummenfelt NOR M $325,775     $285,000   $25,775 $15,000  
3 Ashleigh Gentle AUS F $323,821   $18,750 $290,000       $15,071
4 Taylor Knibb USA F $281,700 $25,000 $57,500 $180,000   $19,200    
5 Lucy Charles-Barclay GBR F $246,750 $125,000 $2,750 $119,000        
6 Magnus Ditlev DEN M $202,953 $49,000   $127,000 $26,953      
7 Jan Frodeno GER M $196,500 $7,500 $4,000 $185,000        
8 Jason West USA M $190,500   $8,000 $175,000 $7,500      
9 Hayden Wilde NZL M $190,338   $4,000     $99,500 $76,000 $10,838
10 Leo Bergere FRA M $181,600   $7,500     $69,100 $105,000  
11 Beth Potter GBR F $172,600         $159,600 $13,000  
12 Cassandre Beaugrand FRA F $163,900         $108,900 $55,000  
13 Laura Philipp GER F $163,125 $70,000 $24,500 $60,000 $8,625      
14 Pieter Heemeryck BEL M $162,791 $27,000 $16,900 $113,500 $5,391      
15 Sam Laidlow FRA M $154,801 $125,000   $21,500 $8,301      
16 Kate Waugh GBR F $139,500         $42,500 $93,000 $4,000
17 Mathis Margirier FRA M $132,496   $14,250 $65,000 $53,246      
18 Alex Yee GBR M $126,500         $66,500 $60,000  
19 Katrina Matthews GBR F $125,750 $28,000 $40,750 $57,000        
20 Emma Lombardi FRA F $122,100         $66,100 $56,000  
21 Dorian Coninx FRA M $121,400         $121,400    
22 Paula Findlay CAN F $116,500   $26,500 $90,000        
23 Patrick Lange GER M $116,181 $68,500 $2,750 $30,000 $14,931      
24 Rudy Von Berg USA M $115,500 $68,000   $47,500        
25 Imogen Simmonds SUI F $112,684   $25,000 $55,000 $32,684      
26 Sam Long USA M $106,750 $4,250 $40,500 $59,000 $3,000      
27 Leon Chevalier FRA M $103,500 $57,000 $4,000 $42,500        
28 Max Neumann AUS M $103,478     $100,000       $3,478
29 Jeanne Lehair LUX F $101,550         $26,550 $75,000  
30 Daniela Ryf SUI F $99,953 $20,000 $11,000 $42,000 $26,953      

PTO Events

Ashleigh Gentle continues to be the best money earner in PTO tour events: Last year she topped the PTO Money List at 325k, this year she earned slightly less than 300k. Most of the athletes in the table below made a significant part of their 2023 earnings from the PTO. The exception is usually athletes who did well at WTC events, for example Lucy Charles-Barclay (48% from the PTO), Rudy von Berg (41%) or Laura Philipp (37%). There were 124 athletes who earned PTO money in 2023.

Photo: Ashleigh raising the banner at the PTO Asian Open, provided by the PTO.

# Name Sex PTO Total Share
1 Ashleigh Gentle F $ 290.000 $ 323.821 90%
2 Kristian Blummenfelt M $ 285.000 $ 325.775 87%
3 Anne Haug F $ 250.000 $ 335.788 74%
4 Jan Frodeno M $ 185.000 $ 196.500 94%
5 Taylor Knibb F $ 180.000 $ 281.700 64%
6 Jason West M $ 175.000 $ 190.500 92%
7 Magnus Ditlev M $ 127.000 $ 202.953 63%
8 Lucy Charles-Barclay F $ 119.000 $ 246.750 48%
9 Pieter Heemeryck M $ 113.500 $ 162.791 70%
10 Max Neumann M $ 100.000 $ 103.478 97%
11 Paula Findlay F $ 90.000 $ 116.500 77%
12 Mathis Margirier M $ 65.000 $ 132.496 49%
13 Chelsea Sodaro F $ 62.000 $ 85.000 73%
14 Laura Philipp F $ 60.000 $ 163.125 37%
15 Sam Long M $ 59.000 $ 106.750 55%
16 Katrina Matthews F $ 57.000 $ 125.750 45%
17 Imogen Simmonds F $ 55.000 $ 112.684 49%
18 Daniel Baekkegard M $ 50.000 $ 73.110 68%
19 Rudy Von Berg M $ 47.500 $ 115.500 41%
20 Emma Pallant-Browne F $ 45.000 $ 78.264 57%
21 Leon Chevalier M $ 42.500 $ 103.500 41%
22 Daniela Ryf F $ 42.000 $ 99.953 42%
23 David McNamee M $ 34.000 $ 50.498 67%
24 Aaron Royle M $ 32.500 $ 47.216 69%
25 Tamara Jewett F $ 31.500 $ 59.500 53%

WTC Races

The WTC money list is topped by the Nice and Kona winners, Sam Laidlow and Lucy Charles-Barclay – winning 125k at these events was enough to be placed ahead of everyone else. All in all, there were 524 athletes who earned prize money from WTC in 2023.

Photo: Lucy Charles-Barclay celebrating her win at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, provided by Ironman.

# Name Sex IM 70.3 WTC Total Share
1 Lucy Charles-Barclay F $ 125.000 $ 2.750 $ 127.750 $ 246.750 52%
2 Sam Laidlow M $ 125.000   $ 125.000 $ 154.801 81%
3 Laura Philipp F $ 70.000 $ 24.500 $ 94.500 $ 163.125 58%
4 Taylor Knibb F $ 25.000 $ 57.500 $ 82.500 $ 281.700 29%
5 Patrick Lange M $ 68.500 $ 2.750 $ 71.250 $ 116.181 61%
6 Katrina Matthews F $ 28.000 $ 40.750 $ 68.750 $ 125.750 55%
7 Anne Haug F $ 65.000 $ 3.000 $ 68.000 $ 335.788 20%
7 Rudy Von Berg M $ 68.000   $ 68.000 $ 115.500 59%
9 Leon Chevalier M $ 57.000 $ 4.000 $ 61.000 $ 103.500 59%
10 Rico Bogen M   $ 56.750 $ 56.750 $ 68.709 83%
11 Skye Moench F $ 45.000 $ 11.000 $ 56.000 $ 80.000 70%
12 Magnus Ditlev M $ 49.000   $ 49.000 $ 202.953 24%
13 Sam Long M $ 4.250 $ 40.500 $ 44.750 $ 106.750 42%
14 Pieter Heemeryck M $ 27.000 $ 16.900 $ 43.900 $ 162.791 27%
15 Kylie Simpson F $ 37.000 $ 4.250 $ 41.250 $ 42.120 98%
16 Sarah True F $ 38.000 $ 3.000 $ 41.000 $ 64.500 64%
17 Mike Phillips M $ 20.500 $ 17.500 $ 38.000 $ 54.419 70%
18 Lisa Norden F $ 34.000 $ 3.500 $ 37.500 $ 51.656 73%
19 Steven McKenna M $ 30.500 $ 6.250 $ 36.750 $ 36.750 100%
20 Alice Alberts F $ 36.000   $ 36.000 $ 41.000 88%
21 Braden Currie M $ 34.000 $ 1.750 $ 35.750 $ 47.565 75%
22 Matthew Marquardt M $ 35.000   $ 35.000 $ 49.500 71%
23 Robert Wilkowiecki M $ 33.250 $ 1.500 $ 34.750 $ 44.750 78%
24 Bradley Weiss M $ 30.000 $ 2.000 $ 32.000 $ 62.686 51%
25 Emma Pallant-Browne F   $ 31.000 $ 31.000 $ 78.264 40%

Challenge

As in previous years, the top money earners on the Challenge side are athletes who focus on the Challenge Family “World Bonus”. This year, Mathis Margirier and Magda Nieuwoudt were at the top of the Challenge bonus table and they also lead the Challenge money list. Similar to the WTC side, almost all of the top earners also make significant money from other race organizers. In total, 236 athletes finished in the money ranks in the 2023 Challenge races.

Photo: Mathis Margirier winning Challenge “The Championship” in Samorin, provided by Challenge Family

# Name Sex Challenge Total Share
1 Mathis Margirier M $ 53.246 $ 132.496 40%
2 Magda Nieuwoudt F $ 44.583 $ 50.333 89%
3 Imogen Simmonds F $ 32.684 $ 112.684 29%
4 Caleb Noble M $ 32.046 $ 37.546 85%
5 Thomas Bishop M $ 31.122 $ 48.122 65%
6 Els Visser F $ 27.277 $ 69.277 39%
7 Magnus Ditlev M $ 26.953 $ 202.953 13%
7 Daniela Ryf F $ 26.953 $ 99.953 27%
9 Lucy Byram F $ 25.789 $ 50.789 51%
10 Frederic Funk M $ 19.548 $ 73.048 27%
11 Anne Haug F $ 17.788 $ 335.788 5%
12 Caroline Pohle F $ 16.548 $ 33.798 49%
13 Menno Koolhaas M $ 16.404 $ 35.904 46%
14 India Lee F $ 16.172 $ 54.922 29%
15 Margie Santimaria F $ 15.990 $ 27.490 58%
16 Patrick Lange M $ 14.931 $ 116.181 13%
17 Aaron Royle M $ 14.716 $ 47.216 31%
18 Youri Keulen M $ 12.819 $ 42.569 30%
19 Fenella Langridge F $ 11.439 $ 60.460 19%
20 Amelia Watkinson F $ 10.782 $ 69.190 16%

Short Course

As in previous years, the top earner of “short course money” had to be successful in both major events, the World Triathlon Series WTCS and SuperLeague. Hayden Wilde comes out on top of this list, he was the runner-up in both series. In total, 115 athletes made money in these short-course events, most of which made the majority of their money on these distances.

Photo: Hayden Wilde winning the 2023 WT Sprint Championships in Hamburg, provided by World Triathlon.

# Name Sex WTCS SuperLeague Short Course Total Share
1 Hayden Wilde M $ 99.500 $ 76.000 $ 175.500 $ 190.338 92%
2 Leo Bergere M $ 69.100 $ 105.000 $ 174.100 $ 181.600 96%
3 Beth Potter F $ 159.600 $ 13.000 $ 172.600 $ 172.600 100%
4 Cassandre Beaugrand F $ 108.900 $ 55.000 $ 163.900 $ 163.900 100%
5 Kate Waugh F $ 42.500 $ 93.000 $ 135.500 $ 139.500 97%
6 Alex Yee M $ 66.500 $ 60.000 $ 126.500 $ 126.500 100%
7 Emma Lombardi F $ 66.100 $ 56.000 $ 122.100 $ 122.100 100%
8 Dorian Coninx M $ 121.400   $ 121.400 $ 121.400 100%
9 Jeanne Lehair F $ 26.550 $ 75.000 $ 101.550 $ 101.550 100%
10 Sophie Coldwell F $ 52.700 $ 26.000 $ 78.700 $ 78.700 100%
11 Matthew Hauser M $ 52.100 $ 24.000 $ 76.100 $ 82.422 92%
12 Vasco Vilaca M $ 68.600 $ 3.500 $ 72.100 $ 72.100 100%
13 Taylor Spivey F $ 49.825 $ 15.500 $ 65.325 $ 65.325 100%
14 Pierre Le Corre M $ 54.900   $ 54.900 $ 59.595 92%
15 Henri Schoeman M $ 10.500 $ 37.500 $ 48.000 $ 58.613 82%
16 Jonathan Brownlee M $ 1.000 $ 43.500 $ 44.500 $ 44.500 100%
17 Leonie Periault F $ 22.900 $ 21.500 $ 44.400 $ 44.400 100%
18 Tim Hellwig M $ 42.300   $ 42.300 $ 42.300 100%
19 Kristian Blummenfelt M $ 25.775 $ 15.000 $ 40.775 $ 325.775 13%
20 Georgia Taylor-Brown F $ 31.900   $ 31.900 $ 31.900 100%

Ironman World Championship 2023 Runs

Before the IM World Champs in Nice and Kona, fast running was expected. At first glance, this expectation was fulfilled with a 2:32:41 by Patrick Lange and a 2:48:23 by Anne Haug, a new female Kona run course record.

But when digging a bit deeper, it does not seem that the overall run times in the Top 10 did not get much quicker: In the female race in Kona, you could still finish in the Top 10 with a 3:12:56 marathon (Jocelyn McCauley), and the male run times on the flat course in Nice are hard to compare to the Kona marathon. Even with the run in Nice being about three minutes quicker than in Kona, the slowest marathon among the Top 10 finishers in Nice – 2:47:55 by Clement Mignon – wasn’t that much quicker than in Kona 2022. (Leon Chevalier had the slowest run among the 2022 Top 10 with a 2:49:27.) And while it was widely assumed that to win in Nice and Kona you’d have to run one of the fastest marathons, the winners’ run times were quite a bit slower than the course records mentioned above.

The following graph shows the gap between the winner’s run time and the fastest marathon of the day:

2023 RunGap

We’ve had the biggest combined gap (18 minutes and 20 seconds for the men and women ) ever at the IM World Championships, including the biggest men’s gap (9:05 for Sam Laidlow behind Patrick Lange) since 2004 (Normann Stadler was 11:43 behind Peter Reid) and the biggest women’s gap (9:15 for Lucy Charles-Barclay behind Anne Haug) since 2000 (14:43 for Natascha Badmann behind Lori Bowden).

But does this mean that the run doesn’t matter anymore or that we’ve seen the “return of the uber bikers”? I think that is a bit too much simplified as well:

  • Both fastest run times this year broke the existing run course records – it’s fair to say that these were exceptionally good runs
  • Both winners also had decent runs – Lucy ran under three hours and had the fourth-best run of the day while Sam ran a sixth-best 2:41
  • Both 2023 wins showed that it often takes something unexpected (such as Lucy and Sam posting the fastest bike of the day) to win World Championships

What’s your view of the bike and run performances this year and what will it mean for future World Championship races? Please join the discussion on my Instagram post!

A New Gold Standard

The following post is an article written by Simon Mueller, originally in German for the leading German triathlon magazine “triathlon” (website tri-mag.de, German-language readers can also subscribe to print and digital version of the magazine). Many thanks to Simon and the triathlon publishers for letting me post this English version.


It was a year of records: 2022 saw an impressive performance leap on the long distance, both at the very top and across the field. We look at what performance, skills and requirements are necessary to have a chance for a podium in today’s big long-distance races.

TEXT > SIMON MUELLER

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister made sports history. On the track in Oxford, the Englishman was the first human to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, something that had previously been considered impossible. But Bannister’s world record of 3:59.4 minutes was short-lived. His fierce competitor John Landy ran a fantastic time of 3:58.0 minutes on June 21st. Shortly after, numerous other athletes entered the list of “Sub-4-Miler”. This is still the most obvious example of a shift in mental boundaries that resulted in an immediate performance leap in the entire sport. There have been countless other examples of athletes who made certain achievements tangible for the first time and thus significantly accelerated development. In 2022, triathlon might have reached such a point.

A Season of Superlatives

The past year had numerous results that show a rapid development in long-distance triathlon, both at the very top and across the field: Gustav Iden’s new Hawaii course record of 7:40:24, his run record of 2:36:11, Sam Laidlow’s bike record of 4:04:36 and Patrick Lange’s 2:30:32 marathon in his victory at Ironman Israel are a few examples of athletes reaching a completely new level. The most obvious case for a massive performance jump across the board: The first ten men in Hawaii finished under eight hours.

For triathlon, one has to ask how much of these improvements are a result of a higher performance (i.e. physiological improvements) and how much impact tactical considerations, external conditions and better equipment have. It is clear that an athlete has to master all these factors to make it onto the podium at the biggest races.

Higher Running Level and Changed Race Dynamics

Ironman Israel once again showed that it’s ever more difficult to win a long distance race even outside of the World Championships. Daniel Bækkegård had an exceptionally strong race, was six and a half minutes ahead of the chase group in T2, ran the following marathon in 2:37:40 – and was still caught by Patrick Lange in the end. There was speculation of a 2:30 marathon for many years. With his run split of 2:30:32, Patrick Lange was the first to achieve this spectacular feat. He surpassed the previous best times of Matt Hanson (2:34:39, Texas 2018) and Gustav Iden (2:34:50, Florida 2021) by several minutes. Will his marathon open the door for similar times in this year’s races? “I think I made a 2:40 marathon plausible back then. Nowadays you hardly win a big long-distance race if you don’t run in this region,” says Lange. (Full interview at the end.)

Running is now more important than ever. This is not only Lange’s perception but is also reflected in the data. Thorsten Radde from TriRating evaluated Hawaii results from 2005 to 2022. The following chart shows the average marathon times of the Top 5 overall finishers and Top 5 runners at each year’s Ironman Hawaii.

MarathonKonaMen

The average times started to become faster since 2015 – a development that is still continuing. You can also see that the lines are getting closer from year to year. The closer the lines are together, the more the top athletes have to be among the fastest runners to finish at the front. To put it the other way around: Where the lines are further apart, strong cyclists or swim-bikers had a better chance of finishing in the top five, even if they lost several minutes to the best runners in the marathon.

With the increased running level, this has become rare also due to the changed racing dynamics and the higher depth in the field. “Swimming has become much more important. Anyone who misses the top group in the water has almost no chance of winning,” says Björn Geesmann, coach of Patrick Lange and Katrina Matthews. He adds: “To have someone so strong on the bike to be able to make up several minutes and then still have a chance in the marathon – these days are over. The overall level at the top is too high for that. The only exception at the moment might be Magnus Ditlev.”

Last year, the top four in Hawaii came from the top group in swimming. Joe Skipper and Sebastian Kienle finished in fifth and sixth place, they were the first athletes from the chase group in the water. In past years, they or Cam Wurf were able to get to the front of the race. This year, they didn’t manage to get to the front of the race or the chase group behind Sam Laidlow on the bike. This fact underscores how crucial it has become to be at the front of the swim. And even if you can do that, in the end you also need the running ability already mentioned in the marathon to actually have a chance for the podium. Swimming and riding at the top is no guarantee for a top result. However, if you’re not at the front from the start, you’re no longer in the game. Interesting: The TriRating data does not show a similar development for the women – or maybe not yet.

Continuing Improvement in Marathon Times

Outside of Hawaii, marathon times for the men are also steadily improving. Thorsten Radde’s evaluations in the next graph show the distribution of the ten fastest marathon times in the respective years:

Top10MarathonMen

The 2020 outlier is not representative of the development because of fewer races during the corona pandemic. Leaving that year aside, it can be seen that both the fastest times and the average times have been improving steadily in recent times. The big leap last year is particularly noteworthy. The average of the ten fastest times was just over 2:36.

For the middle distance, on the other hand, the running times at the top have not changed for several years. Jan Frodeno’s half marathon in 1:06:34 at the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in South Africa is still the fastest run time to date on the middle distance and leaves little room for improvement. However, similar times have become more common, mainly due to short-distance athletes moving to longer distances. Examples include the half marathon splits by Kristian Blummenfelt (1:06:58) and Gustav Iden (1:07:13) in Bahrain 2018, Pierre Le Corre (1:07:08, 70.3 Les Sables 2022), Marten Van Riel (1:07:56, 70.3 Dubai 2022) and Jelle Geens (1:08:18, 70.3 Indian Wells 2021). Comparing different courses and conditions can be slippery, but a development in terms of performance density can also be seen here. Looking at result lists, victory in a strong middle distance is currently hardly possible without a half marathon time of at least 1:10 to 1:11 hours.

Impressive Top Rather Than Depth for the Women

The top 10 marathon times for women, on the other hand, have been at a similar level since 2010 and mostly fluctuate between 2:54 and 2:58 hours. In recent years there have been a few exceptional individual performances such as Laura Philipp’s 2:44 and 2:45 marathons in Klagenfurt and Hamburg as well as Anne Haug’s 2:46 in Roth or Katrina Matthews’ 2:49 in Tulsa. In terms of overall times, one athlete was way ahead of her time: Chrissie Wellington set a world best of 8:18:13 in 2011 which still stands today. In addition, the Briton also holds the third fastest long-distance time of 8:19:13. In between there is Laura Philipp, her 8:18:20 at Ironman Hamburg 2022 indicated that there could be a similar development for women in the next few years. Daniela Ryf’s long-term dominance is a good example of the fact that the depth among the top women was not yet at a comparable level to that of men. But the results of the past two years have shown that Daniela Ryf is no longer a step above everyone else on the long distance.

4 Watts per kg for 180 Kilometers

In addition to the ability to reach the first swimming group and to achieve one of the fastest run times in the end, the necessary requirements are quite explicit: “In the long distance, the men have to be able to pedal four to 4.2 watts per kilogram of body weight over the 180 kilometers,” estimates Björn Geesmann. Sam Laidlow averaged 311 watts during his bike course record in Hawaii. The old mark was set by Cameron Wurf in 2018 with a power of 296 watts. As a comparison: Lionel Sanders produced 308 watts at Ironman Hawaii 2017. Aerodynamics plays a crucial role here. Björn Geesmann speaks of power in relation to the CdA value, which represents the rider’s air resistance: “Ultimately, it’s about speed. Power to weight is therefore not the decisive factor, especially on flat courses. It is often much more important that you can achieve the highest possible power with the lowest possible CdA value.” In this area, the sport has become much more professional in recent years: “The faster bike times across the field certainly are not a result of higher power but because of improved aerodynamics,” says the coach.
This overall development makes it clear that you have to be a very good athlete in all disciplines if you want to win renowned long- or middle-distance races. Gone are the days when uber-bikers or athletes with a very strong bike-run combination made it to the front in big races after swimming deficits of several minutes. Rather, important preliminary decisions are made while swimming and cycling. For all athletes who are within striking distance at T2, the running times decide the positions at the end. The overall winner often has the best time of the day in the marathon or half marathon. Successful solo breakaway attempts are – at least for the men – only rarely successful. As the races in Israel or Hawaii have already shown, even a lead of several minutes after cycling has to be followed by an exceptionally strong run performance. It’s interesting whether a selective bike course such as the Ironman World Championships in Nice can change this unwritten law.


“2:30 has been on my mind for years”

Patrick Lange won Ironman Israel in November 2022 running on another level. He finished the closing marathon in 2:30:32 (average speed of 3:34 minutes per kilometer or 5:39 minutes per mile), significantly faster than any other long-distance athlete before him. We spoke with the two-time Ironman World Champion about his record run, important circumstances, his run training and performance development in the third discipline.

Patrick, your marathon time of 2:30:32 at Ironman Israel was a performance jump rarely seen in triathlon. Were you surprised as well or did you think that was possible before the race?

There was a session before the race in which I felt the perfect interaction between my race shoe and my running form. It was a 90-minute brick run where I could easily change the pace between 3:15 and 3:30 per kilometer. After that I figured there could be a very fast marathon in Israel if everything comes together there. But very fast for me was more like 2:33 or 2:34 hours at best. I would never have thought that the run could get so much faster than that.

In recent years, the marathon in or under 2:30 hours has repeatedly been put forward by many as the next big goal. Were you sceptical about such statements or did you see the potential for them?

It’s not that we didn’t analyze it carefully beforehand, but I was surprised that I pulled it off in Israel. With my trainer Björn Geesmann and especially with my running coach Wolfgang Schweim, we looked for several years at factors that can make me faster and where the limit might be under optimal circumstances. In these conversations, 2:30 hours were often mentioned, even if only hypothetically. That’s why this time has been in the back of my mind for quite some time, although it was never a specific goal. Regardless, I assumed it was only a matter of time before someone did.

At what point in the race did you realize you could keep up the pace to the end?

That was at kilometers 25 and 26. I ran these two kilometers in about 3:20 minutes, at some point I accelerated to almost 3:00 minutes per kilometer pace for 400 meters to get rid of Gregory Barnaby.

IKT LangeIsrael

(Photo Credit: © Ingo Kutsche)

And that’s my first explanation of how this time came about: No one follows my every step for more than ten kilometers or even a half marathon. I could hear his breathing all the time. As a result, I got a little nervous. Mainly because I didn’t even know him until then. So I called out to Björn during the race to google who that was. When I decided to attack him, Daniel Bækkegård was in the lead and I had to keep the pressure up. After I passed him, the gap increased only slowly and he was just behind me the whole time. That’s why I didn’t look at the clock anymore, I just tried to keep up the pace until the end. I haven’t had this tactically favorable constellation in any other race so far. The fact that I was under pressure for so long from a direct competitor at high speed and at the same time someone was still in front of me certainly meant that I was able to make so much out of it.

Are there other factors that favored this pace?

Yes, nutrition, the dynamics of cycling and my race shoe certainly made a contribution. I managed to eat 90 grams of carbs or more per hour on the bike – the first time in a long distance race. On top of that, it was very even cycling for me. I quickly realized that nobody in the chase group really wanted to take the lead. I accepted that and rode at the front for most of the time. As a result, I was able to stay within my power range for the entire distance, to put out my 260 watts fairly constantly and didn’t have any peaks. Thanks to this combination, at the start of the marathon I was probably in a better position energetically than ever before.

You have already mentioned changing your race shoe.

I ran the “Prime X” from Adidas, I hadn’t worn that model for a long distance before. It was the last chance because the shoe is banned from this season due to the new competition regulations. We tested various running shoes under laboratory conditions and found that the Prime X was the best and most efficient. Compared to my usual race shoe, the difference is only minimal. Because of the run course in Israel I decided to wear it there. In retrospect, of course, one cannot say exactly how big the influence actually was. If you consider that as an additional plus point, it will be missing in the future at first.

All of this doesn’t sound like you’ve been in significantly better run shape. What was your running training like in preparation and where were you compared to previous years?

Sure, I was in great shape, but we weren’t able to determine a significant performance improvement based on the training data beforehand – probably my previous level was too good for that. Many of the sessions appear again and again in every preparation and were absolutely comparable. I’m not one to run incredibly high volume in training. In active weeks I ran about 75 to 85 kilometers. There are also no monster sessions in my training. For me, consistency is the key to success.

Immediately after switching to long-distance in 2016, you ran very fast and with a time of 2:39:45 broke the run course record in your Hawaii debut. Back then you were coached by Faris Al-Sultan. How does your current run training differ from the approach back then?

The training with Björn Geesmann is considerably more specific. Back then, I ran practically all my long-distance runs faster than four minutes per kilometer and there were always really tough interval sessions, where I ran 1,000-meter intervals in three minutes, for example. I now run the easy sessions more slowly. But three-quarters of the runs have specific programs with the goal to become more economical. In almost every training session, I’m roughly at the target long-distance pace for some of the time, but I hardly ever run high-intensity intervals anymore. I think that explains why, even coming from an already high level in the years before Israel, I improved by several minutes in the marathon.

Do you think that your 2:30:32 could open the door for other athletes to follow suit and for the run times at the top and across the field to noticeably improve in the future?

I think I made a 2:40 marathon plausible back then. Nowadays you hardly win a big long-distance race if you don’t run in this region. But I can imagine that something else is going to happen there. But as long as that’s not the case, I’m happy to use this mental advantage for myself.

Deep Dive Into the 2022 Triathlon Money List

After 2020 saw a big dip in Professional triathlon racing and overall prize money, things have improved in 2021. The overall money has continued to increase in 2022, especially with the further increase in Pro prize money and two Ironman World Championships this season. This post looks at the overall trends and which athletes have been making good money in different categories.

If you want to check out the 2021 lists, you can find them in my post “Deep Dive Into 2021 Triathlon Money List“.

Money List – Overview

First, here is an overview of the races that are included in the money lists and comparisons to the 2022 and 2019 seasons. (I include 2019 as the last full season before the Corona pandemic disrupted racing.) The totals are shown in US$, for races that paid their prize purse in a different currency the amounts have been converted into US$.

Type Description Total Money
2022
Change
to 2019
Total Money
2021
Total Money
2019
# Pro Events
(2019)
Ironman WTC Ironman-branded races $ 3.338.400 + 35% $ 1.448.250 $ 2.467.000 27 (32)
70.3 WTC 70.3-branded races $ 1.566.100 – 27% $ 1.246.750 $ 2.152.750 42 (71)
PTO PTO races (incl. Bonus Pool) $ 5.563.000 + 45%* $ 3.690.503 (2020:
$ 3.846.316* )
4
(2020: 15*)
Challenge Challenge- and Clash-branded full and half-distance
races (incl. Bonus Pool)
$ 811.920 – 11% $ 843.516 $ 909.586 20 (27)
WTCS World Triathlon Championship Series (incl. Bonus Pool) $ 1.930.000 – 12% $ 1.650.000 $ 2.185.000 8 (9)
SuperLeague SuperLeague Professional Events $ 987.000 + 9% $ 814.500 $ 904.800 6 (4)
Other Independent Races (e.g Embrun, XTerra
World Championships, Alpe D’Huez)
$ 791.545 n/a $ 406.769 $ 624.877 24 (9)
Total $ 15.011.165   + 62% $ 10.580.288 $ 9.244.013
131 (152)

* comparisons for PTO are to 2020 (the first year they have been active), numbers not included in the 2019 totals

Some observations:

  • Ironman prize money is up compared to 2019 by 35%, but that is mostly due to two World Championship events in 2022, each paying US$ 750.000. Still, the average purse per event has gone up from 77k in 2019 to 124k in 2022.
  • Prize money for 70.3s is still down (-27%), mainly because of the reduced number of Pro events. The average purse has slightly increased from 30k to 37k per event.
  • As in previous years, PTO money continues to increase significantly (+57% compared to 2020). While in 2020 they also supported smaller, existing events to be able to provide a Pro prize purse, they are now focused on their own events and the yearly bonus. Each PTO event pays more than one million US$.
    (Note: An earlier version of this post showed a slightly higher total for the PTO – they have notified me of a small error that has now been corrected.)
  • Challenge money is also slightly down (-11%), and they have fewer events on their calendar. The average Challenge race pays just over 40k per event.
  • WTCS numbers are slightly down because there was one fewer event than in 2019. Not including their bonus payment of 750k, the average WTCS event pays 166k.
  • SuperLeague is another well-paying short-course series – they have slightly increased their money over 2019, paying 137k per event plus a series bonus. They also have “Arena Games” events and series with additional money (not included here).
  • The number of independent races that are included has increased significantly. Some of it has to do with events getting more visibility, but there are also a number of events that have increased their prize money to be included in the PTO World Rankings (minimum of US$ 10k prize purse), so this can also be partially attributed to the PTO.

Overall Money List

Kristian Blummenfelt is the overall leader in the 2022 Triathlon Money List, earning almost 500.000 US $ – more than twice the #1 from last year’s list. (Daniela Ryf made 244.000 in 2021.) Even though Daniela was able to increase her earnings this year to 335.00, she’s not even the top female athlete in 2022: Ashleigh Gentle earned just over 350.000 US$.

With the increased money from the PTO and more big events on the calendar, there were 33 athletes who were able to make more than $100.000 this year, compared to 23 in 2021 and 16 in 2019. There was a total of 762 athletes who were able to earn prize money in 2022, up from 647 athletes in 2021.

Kristian Blummenfelt Race 09

Photo: Kristian claims the #1 spot after the Collins Cup, provided by the PTO.

# Name Nation Sex Total Ironman 70.3 PTO Challenge WTCS SuperLeague Other
1 Kristian Blummenfelt NOR M $491,700 $170,000 $50,000 $260,000 $11,700
2 Gustav Iden NOR M $416,755 $125,000 $270,000 $18,255 $3,500
3 Ashleigh Gentle AUS F $351,368 $14,000 $325,000 $12,368
4 Daniela Ryf SUI F $335,000 $153,000 $2,000 $180,000
5 Anne Haug GER F $293,788 $90,000 $2,250 $180,000 $21,538
6 Magnus Elbaek Ditlev DEN M $293,038 $34,000 $18,000 $210,000 $31,038
7 Chelsea Sodaro USA F $278,250 $140,000 $3,250 $135,000
8 Georgia Taylor-Brown GBR F $273,000 $143,000 $130,000
9 Taylor Knibb USA F $270,600 $57,500 $140,000 $73,100
10 Hayden Wilde NZL M $255,000 $20,000 $105,000 $130,000
11 Sam Laidlow FRA M $250,000 $78,000 $172,000
12 Flora Duffy BMU F $227,400 $10,000 $60,000 $157,400
13 Paula Findlay CAN F $222,000 $41,000 $181,000
14 Laura Philipp GER F $216,500 $50,000 $6,500 $160,000
15 Lionel Sanders CAN M $207,750 $65,000 $10,750 $132,000
16 Lucy Charles-Barclay GBR F $198,250 $65,000 $12,000 $110,000 $11,250
17 Katrina Matthews GBR F $185,000 $65,000 $7,000 $113,000
18 Max Neumann AUS M $182,658 $57,500 $4,000 $120,000 $1,158
19 Sam Long USA M $169,410 $4,000 $10,000 $115,000 $40,410
20 Taylor Spivey USA F $162,200 $61,200 $101,000
21 Skye Moench USA F $158,000 $71,000 $1,000 $86,000
22 Patrick Lange GER M $152,519 $26,000 $115,000 $11,519
23 Leo Bergere FRA M $151,100 $3,000 $148,100
24 Collin Chartier USA M $148,500 $20,500 $128,000
25 Holly Lawrence GBR F $145,000 $20,000 $125,000
26 Matthew Hauser AUS M $140,400 $44,400 $96,000
27 Alex Yee GBR M $135,900 $125,900 $10,000
28 Braden Currie NZL M $125,877 $60,000 $63,000 $2,877
29 Daniel Baekkegard DEN M $122,000 $24,000 $14,000 $84,000
30 Matt Hanson USA M $120,056 $42,000 $12,500 $59,000 $6,556
31 Aaron Royle AUS M $115,259 $7,000 $104,000 $4,259
32 Jocelyn McCauley USA F $104,000 $21,000 $83,000
33 Sophie Coldwell GBR F $103,700 $32,700 $71,000
34 Lisa Norden SWE F $97,034 $45,000 $51,000 $1,034
35 Fenella Langridge GBR F $94,567 $31,000 $18,000 $45,567
36 Joe Skipper GBR M $92,500 $57,500 $35,000
37 Jackie Hering USA F $92,000 $22,000 $64,000 $6,000
38 Florian Angert GER M $91,034 $28,500 $1,500 $51,000 $1,034 $9,000
39 Beth Potter GBR F $87,400 $49,400 $38,000
40 Cassandre Beaugrand FRA F $86,800 $55,300 $31,500

PTO Events

For Ashleigh Gentle, 2022 was a breakthrough season on the longer distances. Winning both the Canadian and US Opens, she is the top PTO earner. All of the athletes in the table below made a significant part of their 2022 earnings from the PTO – the lowest is Kona Champion Chelsea Sodaro with “only” 49%. There were 206 athletes who earned PTO money in 2022.

Ashleigh Gentle US Open 2022 12

Photo: Ashleigh running to her second win on the PTO Tour in Dallas, provided by the PTO.

# Name Gender PTO Total Share
1 Ashleigh Gentle F $ 325.000 $ 351.368 92%
2 Gustav Iden M $ 270.000 $ 416.755 65%
3 Kristian Blummenfelt M $ 260.000 $ 491.700 53%
4 Magnus Elbaek Ditlev M $ 210.000 $ 293.038 72%
5 Paula Findlay F $ 181.000 $ 222.000 82%
6 Daniela Ryf F $ 180.000 $ 335.000 54%
6 Anne Haug F $ 180.000 $ 293.788 61%
8 Sam Laidlow M $ 172.000 $ 250.000 69%
9 Laura Philipp F $ 160.000 $ 216.500 74%
10 Taylor Knibb F $ 140.000 $ 270.600 52%
11 Chelsea Sodaro F $ 135.000 $ 278.250 49%
12 Lionel Sanders M $ 132.000 $ 207.750 64%
13 Collin Chartier M $ 128.000 $ 148.500 86%
14 Holly Lawrence F $ 125.000 $ 145.000 86%
15 Max Neumann M $ 120.000 $ 182.658 66%
16 Sam Long M $ 115.000 $ 169.410 68%
16 Patrick Lange M $ 115.000 $ 152.519 75%
18 Katrina Matthews F $ 113.000 $ 185.000 61%
19 Lucy Charles-Barclay F $ 110.000 $ 198.250 55%
20 Aaron Royle M $ 104.000 $ 115.259 90%
21 Skye Moench F $ 86.000 $ 158.000 54%
22 Daniel Baekkegard M $ 84.000 $ 122.000 69%
23 Jocelyn McCauley F $ 83.000 $ 104.000 80%
24 Ellie Salthouse F $ 66.000 $ 76.000 87%
25 Jackie Hering F $ 64.000 $ 92.000 70%

WTC Races

Kristian Blummenfelt was the most consistent racer on the longer distances. Winning two World Championship titles (both in St. George) and a third place in Kona was good enough to be the top earner from WTC races. He is followed by the other Ironman World Champions of this year, Daniela Ryf (St. George), Chelsea Sodaro (Kona) and Gustav Iden (Kona) – these four are also the only athletes at over 100k from WTC. All in all, there were 497 athletes who earned prize money from WTC in 2022. Almost all of the top earners also made significant money from other sources, almost always more than half.

Blummenfelt 703 Worlds

Photo: Kristian celebrating his win at 70.3 Worlds in St. George, provided by Ironman.

# Name Gender IM 70.3 WTC Total Share
1 Kristian Blummenfelt M $ 170.000 $ 50.000 $ 220.000 $ 491.700 45%
2 Daniela Ryf F $ 153.000 $ 2.000 $ 155.000 $ 335.000 46%
3 Chelsea Sodaro F $ 140.000 $ 3.250 $ 143.250 $ 278.250 51%
4 Gustav Iden M $ 125.000 $ 125.000 $ 416.755 30%
5 Anne Haug F $ 90.000 $ 2.250 $ 92.250 $ 293.788 31%
6 Sam Laidlow M $ 78.000 $ 78.000 $ 250.000 31%
7 Lucy Charles-Barclay F $ 65.000 $ 12.000 $ 77.000 $ 198.250 39%
8 Lionel Sanders M $ 65.000 $ 10.750 $ 75.750 $ 207.750 36%
9 Katrina Matthews F $ 65.000 $ 7.000 $ 72.000 $ 185.000 39%
9 Skye Moench F $ 71.000 $ 1.000 $ 72.000 $ 158.000 46%
11 Max Neumann M $ 57.500 $ 4.000 $ 61.500 $ 182.658 34%
12 Braden Currie M $ 60.000 $ 60.000 $ 125.877 48%
12 Sarah Crowley F $ 55.000 $ 5.000 $ 60.000 $ 74.930 80%
14 Taylor Knibb F $ 57.500 $ 57.500 $ 270.600 21%
14 Joe Skipper M $ 57.500 $ 57.500 $ 92.500 62%
16 Laura Philipp F $ 50.000 $ 6.500 $ 56.500 $ 216.500 26%
17 Matt Hanson M $ 42.000 $ 12.500 $ 54.500 $ 120.056 45%
18 Magnus Elbaek Ditlev M $ 34.000 $ 18.000 $ 52.000 $ 293.038 18%
19 Daniela Bleymehl F $ 49.000 $ 2.750 $ 51.750 $ 62.792 82%
20 Lisa Norden F $ 45.000 $ 45.000 $ 97.034 46%
21 Emma Pallant-Browne F $ 44.000 $ 44.000 $ 83.212 53%
22 Ruth Astle F $ 39.000 $ 4.750 $ 43.750 $ 60.750 72%
23 Paula Findlay F $ 41.000 $ 41.000 $ 222.000 18%
24 Cody Beals M $ 34.000 $ 5.750 $ 39.750 $ 47.750 83%
25 Leon Chevalier M $ 34.500 $ 3.750 $ 38.250 $ 62.578 61%

Challenge

The top money earners on the Challenge side are typically athletes who focus on the Challenge Family “World Bonus”. This year, Fenella Langridge was the winner on the female side, and she also made enough money in her other Challenge races to become the top money earner. Similar to the WTC side, almost all of the top earners also make significant money from other race organizers. In total, there were 189 athletes who finished in the money ranks in 2022 Challenge and Clash races.

Challenge Roth  pbh2022 Simon Fischer

Photo: Fenella leading on the bike leg at Challenge Roth, provided by Challenge Roth

# Name Gender Challenge Total Share
1 Fenella Langridge F $ 45.567 $ 94.567 48%
2 Sara Perez Sala F $ 44.755 $ 64.755 69%
3 Sam Long M $ 40.410 $ 169.410 24%
4 Magnus Elbaek Ditlev M $ 31.038 $ 293.038 11%
5 Niek Heldoorn M $ 25.627 $ 61.417 42%
6 Lucy Byram F $ 22.648 $ 34.398 66%
7 Anne Haug F $ 21.538 $ 293.788 7%
8 Gustav Iden M $ 18.255 $ 416.755 4%
9 Lucy Buckingham F $ 17.278 $ 23.528 73%
10 Emma Pallant-Browne F $ 15.212 $ 83.212 18%
11 Vincent Luis M $ 15.000 $ 78.000 19%
11 Angelica Olmo F $ 15.000 $ 15.000 100%
13 Thomas Steger M $ 12.778 $ 29.871 43%
14 Jason West M $ 12.500 $ 78.000 16%
15 Ashleigh Gentle F $ 12.368 $ 351.368 4%
16 Patrick Lange M $ 11.519 $ 152.519 8%
17 Richard Varga M $ 10.953 $ 12.953 85%
18 Joao Pereira M $ 10.000 $ 10.000 100%
19 Reinaldo Colucci M $ 9.909 $ 24.409 41%
20 Thomas Bishop M $ 9.104 $ 19.104 48%

Short Course

As in previous years, the top earner of “short course money” had to be successful in both major events, the World Triathlon Series WTCS and SuperLeague. World Champions Flora Duffy and Leo Bergere did not race any SuperLeague events and were overtaken in this money list by SuperLeague winners Georgia Taylor-Brown and Hayden Wilde. In total, 114 athletes made money in these short-course events, most of which made the majority of their money on these distances.

GTB wtcs cagliari

Photo: “GTB” pops a bottle of champagne after her win at WTCS Cagliari 2022, provided by World Triathlon.

# Name Gender WTCS SuperLeague Short Course Total Share
1 Georgia Taylor-Brown F $ 143.000 $ 130.000 $ 273.000 $ 273.000 100%
2 Hayden Wilde M $ 105.000 $ 130.000 $ 235.000 $ 255.000 92%
3 Taylor Spivey F $ 61.200 $ 101.000 $ 162.200 $ 162.200 100%
4 Flora Duffy F $ 157.400 $ 157.400 $ 227.400 69%
5 Leo Bergere M $ 148.100 $ 148.100 $ 151.100 98%
6 Matthew Hauser M $ 44.400 $ 96.000 $ 140.400 $ 140.400 100%
7 Alex Yee M $ 125.900 $ 10.000 $ 135.900 $ 135.900 100%
8 Sophie Coldwell F $ 32.700 $ 71.000 $ 103.700 $ 103.700 100%
9 Beth Potter F $ 49.400 $ 38.000 $ 87.400 $ 87.400 100%
10 Cassandre Beaugrand F $ 55.300 $ 31.500 $ 86.800 $ 86.800 100%
11 Taylor Knibb F $ 73.100 $ 73.100 $ 270.600 27%
12 Vasco Vilaca M $ 26.100 $ 46.000 $ 72.100 $ 72.100 100%
13 Jonathan Brownlee M $ 12.000 $ 54.000 $ 66.000 $ 66.000 100%
14 Jelle Geens M $ 60.700 $ 60.700 $ 60.700 100%
15 Miriam Casillas Garcia F $ 25.700 $ 27.500 $ 53.200 $ 53.200 100%
16 Vincent Luis M $ 51.000 $ 51.000 $ 78.000 65%
17 Verena Steinhauser F $ 15.700 $ 24.000 $ 39.700 $ 39.700 100%
18 Kenji Nener M $ 11.100 $ 27.500 $ 38.600 $ 38.600 100%
19 Laura Lindemann F $ 27.100 $ 8.000 $ 35.100 $ 35.100 100%
20 Emma Lombardi F $ 32.200 $ 32.200 $ 32.200 100%
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