IRONMAN Pro Series shakes up elite racing with US$1.7m bonus pool

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Apr 02, 2024

IRONMAN has confirmed the creation of the IRONMAN Pro Series. Billed as a performance-based world series it will see professional triathletes vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series champion and a share of a US$1.7 million in year-end bonus pool payouts after 12 months of racing action.

The IRONMAN Pro Series will be contested over 18 designated events in the 2024 pro circuit, including a combination of six full-distance IRONMAN and nine IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons from around the globe as well as the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship Women’s and Men’s races and VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons.

The 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series series will kick off at the 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon on April 6 and will run through the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand, on December 14 and 15, 2024.

Designed to showcase and reward the talent of the world’s top professional triathletes the series will also seek to provide broader year-round interest through deeper pro fields, storylines, and live broadcasting.

The new IRONMAN Pro Series bonus pool runs in parallel to and on top of the already established individual event prize purses at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 pro events bringing the total 2024 professional prize money and bonus pool on offer to nearly US$6 million.

Prize money for individual pro races on the circuit will remain consistent with past years, with a few adjustments, including an increase of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship prize purse to US$500K.

All professional athletes, of which there are approximately 1,000, are eligible and will start on a level playing field to begin the season. At each of the 18 designated IRONMAN Pro Series events, professional athletes will earn points based on their finish times to count towards a final series ranking.

A first placed finish earns maximum points – 5,000 points for IRONMAN and 2,500 points for IRONMAN 70.3 – while winning the IRONMAN World Championship will earn 6,000 points and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship will earn 3,000 points.

Points are then cascaded based on the time deficit to first place. Fast racing will pay off with one point per second deducted based on deficit to the winning time, with no points floor.

While professional athletes can choose any combination of designated races in the series, only the top five race performances of the year will count towards an athlete’s final ranking, of which a maximum of three IRONMAN event results can be counted.

The top 10 ranked athletes in each gender at the end of the IRONMAN Pro Series will share US$1.3 million in bonus pool, with the top placed male and female taking home US$200,000 each. A further US$400,000 in financial assistance will be paid out equally to athletes ranked 11th – 50th in each gender.

The professional athlete’s qualification policy for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship remains the same rolling into 2024, and validation rules for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 champions and podium finishers will be reinstated for 2024 after being suspended during COVID years and the changing World Championship schedule.

2024 IRONMAN Pro Series Schedule
Date Event Location
Apr 6 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside Oceanside, CA, USA
Apr 27 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas The Woodlands, TX, USA
May 4 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George St. George, UT, USA
May 11 Zafiro IRONMAN 70.3 Alcúdia, Mallorca Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain
May 19 IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN, USA
Jun 2 IRONMAN European Championship Hamburg (WPro) Hamburg, Germany
Jun 8 IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder Boulder, CO, USA
Jun 16 Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns Cairns, QL, Australia
Jun 23 IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, QC, Canada
Jun 30 IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne Vendėe, France
Jul 16 IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Jul 21 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid Lake Placid, NY, USA
Aug 18 Mainova IRONMAN European Championship Frankfurt (MPro) Frankfurt, Germany
Aug 25 IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Tallinn Tallinn, Estonia
Sep 1 IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun Zell am See, Austria
Sep 22 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship – Women’s Race Nice, France
Oct 24 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship – Men’s Race Kona, HI, USA
Dec 1 IRONMAN 70.3 Western Australia Busselton, Western Australia
Dec 14-15 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Taupō, New Zealand

 

“We wanted to find a way of recognizing the exceptional talent of our top professional triathletes while also giving up-and-coming professionals an opportunity to thrive and make their mark”, said Andrew Messick, President and CEO for The IRONMAN Group.

“The events have been carefully selected to ensure that they are accessible for our professional athletes, but also offer diverse courses so athletes can select races that are best suited to their strengths. We look forward to the inaugural race of the Pro Series at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, that will undoubtedly set the tone for an incredible year of racing.”
 

2024 IRONMAN Pro Series Prize Money – US$ (based on year-end standings)
  Men Women  
First $200,000 $200,000  
Second $130,000 $130,000  
Third $85,000 $85,000  
Fourth $70,000 $70,000  
Fifth $50,000 $50,000  
Sixth $40,000 $40,000  
Seventh $30,000 $30,000  
Eighth $20,000 $20,000  
Ninth $15,000 $15,000  
Tenth $10,000 $10,000  
TOTAL TOP 10 $650,000 $650,000 $1,300,000
11-50 equal payments $200,000 $200,000 $    400,000
Grand Total Bonus Pool     $1,700,000

 
www.ironman.com

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