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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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% |
Pingback: The (half) million dollar man: How much do top triathletes earn? - Elite News - TRI247
Pingback: These are last year's big earners - Triathlon Today
Outstanding, vanguard reporting as always. As I have predicted since Ironman Europe rebranded to Challenge Roth in 2002, the Ironman brand continues to lose favor with athletes and sponsors will follow.
Pingback: Descubre la increíble brecha salarial entre Kristian Blummenfelt y los jugadores de LaLiga - Planeta Triatlón
Comments are closed.