World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) have today announced plans to partner up and create a new and official World Championship Tour for long-distance triathlon.
The new championship series will utilise the PTO's tour events for the World Championship Tour, meaning the competition will take place over the (supposedly 'made for TV') 100km distance. By discipline, that's broken down to a 2km swim, 80km bike and an 18km run.
The aim is for the two organisations to work together to create a season-long narrative for long-course racing in the same vein as that which already exists in short course.
Speaking about the partnership, World Triathlon president Marisol Casado said: "Today marks a significant milestone as World Triathlon proudly announces this ground-breaking agreement with the PTO.
"This collaboration signifies a powerful alliance that underscores our shared commitment to elevating the sport of triathlon to new heights. By joining forces, we harness the collective passion, expertise and dedication of both organisations to drive positive change and innovation within the triathlon community."
So what exactly will the new competition look like? It'll be a points-based competition with pro men's and women's titles at the end of the tour.
The two organisations say that there are plans to create up to five 'Continental Championships' at one-off races at the following destinations: Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceana.
As is the case this year, qualification to these races will depend on athletes' PTO World Ranking, while there will also continue to be wildcard picks for each event. Athletes will still be able to earn ranking points from Ironman and Challenge Family events.
How will wildcards be chosen?
1. Athletes whose rankings have been affected by things like injury or maternity and do not reflect the pedigree as shown by historical performances.
2. Athletes who are up-and-coming and have demonstrated the ability to be competitive but have not yet established sufficient points to be an automatic qualifier.
3. Athletes who have a sufficiently high World Triathlon ranking from short-course racing, suggesting they'd be competitive in the event.
All events will be operated under World Triathlon rules (the races will still be non-drafting) and there'll also be qualification available for the Age Group Championships, which will follow the existing World Triathlon process of national federations' selections.
Age-groupers will be able to race in each of the championship events and those that qualify will get to take part in the World Championship event at the end of the season.
Also revealed in this announcement is that the PTO and World Triathlon will work together to "to make events fairer, more competitive and sustainable". This includes an expanded anti-doping program for long-course racing, a topic that's been in the limelight recently due to Collin Chartier's positive result and subsequent ban earlier this year.
Talking about the new partnership, PTO CEO Sam Renouf said: “Given the importance of the Olympics and short course racing on the traditional federation funding model, long distance triathlon has largely been left to the ‘private sector’ of for-profit promoters; leading to a fragmented and uncoordinated calendar for both athletes and fans.
"In partnering together to recognise the PTO Tour as the official tour of long distance triathlon, the PTO and World Triathlon are both elevating long distance triathlon and bringing this part of the sport back into the fold of the World Triathlon family.”
The full event calendar for the World Championship Long Distance Tour will be announced in October.
Top image credit: PTO/Darren Wheeler
