aeroyoost wrote:
The extra boost for IM distance doesn't seem fair, especially since it seems like IM distance races already score higher points than 70.3 on average. How does voting work in the PTO if you're allowed to talk about that? Were these new PTO scoring boosts put to the entire PTO for a vote and the top 10 athletes get more votes than everyone else? I'm just curious about how these decisions are made in the PTO and how much their members contribute.
Thanks for your feedback as a professional - we don't really get much of that here on Slowtwicth!
The last time I shared some of the "inner workings" of the PTO (if you can even call the contracts they make athletes sign that), I received a nice email from two of the board members asking to set up a phone call haha. But as far as I'm aware there is no contractual privacy expected here. There's also so little transparency even being on the inside that 90% of the stuff they announce comes as a complete surprise to us.
With this situation, I have no idea if it was the Athlete board who made this change or the non athlete board. My gut says it's probably the non athlete board based on the final point in this document detailing the 2022 ranking system:
"11.Amendments: The PTO World Ranking System may be amended or modified at any time by the determination of the non-athlete members of the PTO Board."
The voting system for the athlete board is a complete mess:
Quote:
Nomination Qualifications: Any PTO Professional is eligible to run for a position on the Athlete Board. If a PTO Professional wishes to run for election, they must be nominated by at least three other PTO Professionals who are eligible to vote for the vacant Athlete Board Member position in question. Thus, if a PTO Professional wishes to run for the vacant position that is to be elected by the Top 25 Ranked PTO Professionals, they must be nominated by at least three of the top 25 Ranked PTO Professionals. If a PTO Professional wishes to run for a vacant position that is elected by those PTO Professionals ranked from 26-50, they must be nominated by at least three PTO Professionals ranked from 26-50. Nominations: Any PTO Professional wishing to run for an Athlete Board Member position can submit their application here.
Please only submit your nomination once you have received three endorsements from the required ranked PTO Professionals. Applications are to be submitted by December 1. Once submissions have been received, those PTO Professionals who are eligible to run will receive confirmation by December 15th.
Election: As soon as the 2021 PTO World Rankings have been finalised on December 20th, the top 50 ranked men and women PTO Professionals will be contacted with the list of eligible Athlete Board Member candidates, and voting will take place. Voting will close January 15, 2022, and new Athlete Board Members will begin their terms on February 1, 2022
Election Calculations: One man Athlete Board Member will be elected by a vote of the Top 25 Ranked Professionals. According to the By-laws, for this position votes are weighted depending on a PTO Professional’s Ranking as follows:
Rank 1-5 are allocated 7 votes each,
Rank 6-10 are allocated 5 votes each, and
Rank 11-25 are allocated 4 votes each.
One man and one woman Athlete Board Member will be elected by a vote of those PTO Professionals ranked from 26-50, with each voting PTO Professional having one equal vote.
Crystal clear?
So basically with this point boost situation, there are two ways this played out as I see it:
1. The athlete board members either voted or approved this change which disproportionally benefits them as already high ranked athletes.
2. Some non athlete entities within the PTO decided this would be a good idea and implemented the changes without the approval of the athlete board.
I can't tell which is the worse option.
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