I worry/wonder what the financial situation of ITU actually is as well.
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how many organisations do you think world tri had to chose from ?
Just like Brown Forman, they didn’t even have to entertain a tender process. Just cut back their own expenses that they force onto race organizers.
so your issue is not that world tri partnered with an organisation that does not know how to pay bills ?
and I guess they want to increase the expenses ( price money for one part )
TRI Athlete Committee Meeting Minutes
Subject: January 2026 Meeting
Date: 07/01/2026
Time: 12.00 CET
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Chair: Non Stanford
Attendees: Luisa Baptista ; Felix Duchampt ; Vincent Luis ; Claire Michelle ; Mario Mola ; Gillian Sanders ; Martin Schulz ; Luke Willian (VC) ; Gulnaz Zhuzbaeva
1. Overview of the World Triathlon–PTO Partnership
The meeting focused on discussing the new partnership between World Triathlon (TRI) and PTO, which aims to unify and commercialise the sport. The chair and vice-chair provided an overview of the partnership structure, highlighting that PTO will handle commercial and marketing aspects while TRI retains governance responsibilities. The World Tour Series set to launch in 2027, will include the rebranded WTCS and World Cup series, alongside the already existing T100 series. It was explained that a significant increase in prize money for short course racing has been promised, but exact figures were not provided. It was noted that the long form contract is in its early stages, with many details still to be finalized, with a proposed deadline of late Feb / March. It was emphasised the importance of athlete feedback on the proposed changes.
2. Summary of Athlete Feedback on TRI – PTO Partnership
Athletes agreed that fundamentally the partnership was positive for the sport and had been generally well received by the athlete body as a whole.
Concerns were raised regarding the exclusion of Para Triathlon from the current agreement. The group emphasized the need for advocacy, visibility, and equitable prize money for para athletes and noted that despite a potential lack of commercial viability, Para Triathlon has strong social impact which should be recognised by the partnership.
Concerns were raised around the safety of the partnership from TRI’s perspective, with many questions around TRI’s “exit strategy” if the partnership does not work, or PTO were to become bankrupt.
Questions raised about the provisions for an increased anti-doping budget to address potential doping risks with the increased prize money in short course races.
Questions also covered the structure of the World Tour Series, with clarification given that these T100 and T50 races would be held on separate weekends so as to maximise athlete choice and racing opportunity.
The need for efficient prize money payments was raised, with concerns expressed about the current 4-month delay in payments from the PTO.
3. T100 Olympic Strategy Discussion
The discussion focused on T100’s potential involvement with TRI and the Olympics. Concerns were expressed about T100’s strategy, questioning the logic of pursuing Olympic involvement given the current Olympic direction and the challenges of replacing existing events. The group discussed the IOC’s update regarding the number of sports for LA and Brisbane, noting that while the total number of sports may be less, there could be more medals available per sport, noting that HYROX was also vying for Olympic inclusion via TRI. The discussion also touched on the need for additional quota places for events like Brisbane if additional events are to be added.
4. Para -triathlon Inclusion Debate
It was explained that para-triathlon was not mentioned in the initial memorandum of understanding between PTO and TRI. Athlete emphasized the importance of promoting para-triathlon and suggested bringing the issue to the executive boards to advocate for inclusion.
5. WTCS Rebranding
The group discussed concerns about the rebrand to T50, with athletes expressing discomfort about it suggesting short course is the lesser version of T100. Skepticism was expressed about the T100’s intentions and it was suggested that the name should be more relevant to the distance, while also acknowledging the marketing perspective of keeping the “T” branding.
They explored the idea of rebranding to T1 to better represent the sport’s identity, history and premium status; with a potential future expansion to T1000 if full distance was to be added at a later stage.
The group agreed to brainstorm alternative names that would clarify and respect the Olympic distance, whilst also maintaining the “T” prefix.
Naming of para triathlon events under the T100 banner was also discussed, with para representatives agreeing that the name is less important than improving conditions and prize money for the sport’s growth.
Paratriathlon Prize Money Proposal
The group discussed a proposal for increasing prize money for Paratriathlon, focusing on a series-based approach rather than per-race awards. They suggested allocating USD 5,000, 3,000, and 1,000 as an end-of-year bonus pool across the 6 categories in both genders, with TRI potentially contributing from predicted revenue increases. The proposal aims to make it more feasible by having TRI cover the costs, rather than relying on local organizing committees.
It was further suggested that starting with World and Continental Championships prize purses could also be an option, but acknowledging financial challenges, particularly for para events in regions like Asia.
It was agreed that a proposal would be prepared for the group to brainstorm.
Actions:
- NS: Draft and circulate a proposal for the inclusion of Para Triathlon in the new World Tour series, including suggestions for Para Triathlon prize money structure and end-of-year ranking bonus pool, and share with the group for feedback.
- NS & LW: Raise concerns with the executive board and PTO about the lack of Para Triathlon inclusion in the current agreement and push for its integration in all future discussions and series planning.
- NS & LW: Put forward athlete committee concerns around the partnership, including exit strategy, timely prize money payment and anti-doping budget.
- NS: Draft and circulate proposal for alternative naming ideas for group feedback and input. TRI
I have a helluva lot of philosophical problems with how they run their business…but you could put not paying athletes up there in the top 3.
that is hard to say, after all while slowly it seems they have paid up all they owned so far.
I do agree though it would be unwise to put all your eggs in the t100 basket if you dont have savings.
Are you saying they actually have paid up for 2025 races and series and contender bonuses?
no I am not saying this, iam saying eventually they have paid everything that was due since 2020.
PTN is reporting payments to athletes due by end of May.
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They not mentioned the contenders ranking bonuses, think that was down to 40th. Wonder if they will also be paid out too.
Think PTN have not got a firm grip on this with their odd post.
Only the top 20 in the final T100 Standings get an EoY Bonus - why list those in the T100 Standings 20s, 30s and 40s?
After the T100 top 20 there should be a distribution of cash to the top 40 in the Contender Rankings.
But Lisa Becharas said that there was an additional condition on that; that athletes had to have been on three T100 waiting lists (ie asked for a start). Not clear whether that’s the case or not.
Frankly it seems entirely reasonable: why should the PTO pay out money to athletes who don’t want to race T100 (eg Loevseth, Hering, Blummenfelt, Stornes)?
Bonus Prize Money
“The Contenders Rankings offer $560,000 USD in prize money to a total of 80 athletes; the top 40 women and 40 men in the rankings.”
- Top 40 men and women get a slice of the prize purse
- $16,000 for 1st down to $3,000 for 40th
- Payments roll down past athletes who earn a T100 Standings bonus [ie the top 20] after the Qatar T100 World Championship Final
Here’s my list the first half of WPro Contenders, without any ‘no thanks’ excisions.
| Contender | Athlete |
|---|---|
| 1 | Solveig Løvseth |
| 2 | Lizzie Rayner |
| 3 | Marta Sánchez |
| 4 | Jackie Hering |
| 5 | Alanis Siffert |
| 6 | Lotte Wilms |
| 7 | Natalie Van_Coevorden |
| 8 | Daniela Kleiser |
| 9 | Marlene De_Boer |
| 10 | Danielle Lewis |
| 11 | Lena Meißner |
| 12 | Laura Jansen |
| 13 | Leana Bissig |
| 14 | Rebecca Anderbury |
| 15 | Nina Derron |
| 16 | Diede Diederiks |
| 17 | Amelia Watkinson |
| 18 | Grace Alexander |
| 19 | Kaidi Kivioja |
in theory anybody that has a PTO logo on their Tri suit should be a member and then get paid the contenter ranking money