Note: This is an excerpt from my 2013 TriRating Report which has a lot more information about the 2013 long distance season. You can download it for free using this link.
In other sports – such as golf – the main way of ranking athletes is by the amount of prize money they make. With all the data from the qualifying races, I’ve built one for Ironman Triathlons. It is also a convenient way of putting men and women in the same list.
Here are the 20 athletes – both from the men and women – that have earned the most prize money in „official”, full-distance Ironman races in the Kona 2013 qualifying cycle. This year, I’ve added the Kona money makers and the changes in the rankings the Kona money makes:
| Rank | Name | IM | Kona | Total | Rank |
| 1 | Mary Beth Ellis | 55.000 | 6 | ||
| 2 | Eneko Llanos | 50.000 | 7 | ||
| 3 | Jodie Swallow | 35.000 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Erika Csomor | 34.250 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Luke Bell | 30.000 | 16 | ||
| Corinne Abraham | 30.000 | 16 | |||
| 7 | Camilla Pedersen | 25.000 | 21 | ||
| 8 | Jessie Donavan | 22.000 | 25 | ||
| 9 | Liz Blatchford | 20.500 | 40.000 | 60.500 | 5 |
| 10 | Uli Bromme | 20.000 | 26 | ||
| Ben Hoffman | 20.000 | 26 | |||
| Paul Amey | 20.000 | 26 | |||
| Bas Diederen | 20.000 | 26 | |||
| Ronnie Schildknecht | 20.000 | 26 | |||
| 15 | Meredith Kessler | 18.750 | 14.000 | 32.750 | 14 |
| 16 | Amanda Stevens | 18.000 | 32 | ||
| 17 | Ivan Rana | 17.750 | 16.000 | 33.750 | 13 |
| 18 | Gina Crawford | 17.500 | 11.000 | 28.500 | 18 |
| Yvonne Van Vlerken | 17.500 | 22.500 | 40.000 | 8 | |
| 20 | Jan Raphael | 17.250 | 33 | ||
| 24 | Frederik Van Lierde | 15.000 | 120.000 | 135.000 | 1 |
| Luke McKenzie | 15.000 | 60.000 | 75.000 | 3 | |
| Timothy O’Donnell | 15.000 | 19.000 | 34.000 | 12 | |
| Timo Bracht | 15.000 | 11.000 | 26.000 | 20 | |
| Rachel Joyce | 15.000 | 60.000 | 75.000 | 3 | |
| Linsey Corbin | 15.000 | 10.000 | 25.000 | 21 | |
| 45 | Michelle Vesterby | 10.500 | 12.500 | 23.000 | 24 |
| 59 | James Cunnama | 8.500 | 22.500 | 31.000 | 15 |
| 68 | Bart Aernouts | 7.500 | 12.500 | 20.000 | 26 |
| Caroline Steffen | 7.500 | 19.000 | 26.500 | 19 | |
| Caitlin Snow | 7.500 | 16.000 | 23.500 | 23 | |
| 99 | Faris Al-Sultan | 5.000 | 10.000 | 15.000 | 35 |
| 130 | Tyler Butterfield | 3.000 | 14.000 | 17.000 | 34 |
| 141 | Mirinda Carfrae | 2.750 | 120.000 | 122.750 | 2 |
| Sebastian Kienle | 40.000 | 40.000 | 8 |
As last year, 70.3s and non-WTC races are not included.
Here are some observations:
- Mary Beth Ellis leads the non-Kona list (winning in Cozumel, France and Mont Tremblant) followed by Eneko Llanos (winning the regional Championships in Melbourne and Frankfurt). These two have made significantly more money than the leader last year (Caroline Steffen with 30.000).
- Once you include Kona money, the list is dominated by the top 3 Kona athletes: Frederik, Rinny, Rachel, Luke, and Liz. Sebastian Kienle is “only” 8th, but he did not earn any other IM money.
- The conclusion from previous years is still valid: Outside of a good Kona payday, it is next to impossible to make a living on Ironman prize money.
Photo Credit: Jay Prasuhn