Anne Haug and Kristian Blummenfelt top 2023 PTO Rankings
German and Norwegian stars take the biggest share of the $2 million bonus prize pool
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
For the second year in a row Germany’s Anne Haug (pictured above competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii) and Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt topped the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) World Rankings, taking home US$100,000 for their efforts. The PTO Bonus pool pays out US$2 million to the top 50 athletes in the World Rankings. (You can see the prize money break down for the PTO events and bonus here.) The ranking is based on an athletes top three results – points are allocated based on the finish, the strength of the field and the finishing time.
Here’s a list of the top-10 men and women in the World Rankings for 2023:
| Men | Points | Points | Women |
| #1 Kristian Blummenfelt | 96.93 | 97.83 | #1 Anne Haug |
| #2 Magnus Ditlev | 95.03 | 97.67 | #2 Ashleigh Gentle |
| #3 Jason West | 94.42 | 96.39 | #3 Taylor Knibb |
| #4 Jan Frodeno | 92.14 | 95.18 | #4 Lucy Charles-Barclay |
| #5= Pieter Heemeryck | 91.19 | 92.28 | #5 Laura Philipp |
| #5= Mathis Margirier | 91.19 | 91.26 | #6 Kat Matthews |
| #7 Rudy von Berg | 90.48 | 90.99 | #7 Paula Findlay |
| #8 Leon Chevalier | 90.19 | 90.90 | #8 Daniela Ryf |
| #9 Sam Long | 90.14 | 90.55 | #9 Imogen Simmonds |
| #10 Patrick Lange | 89.45 | 89.31 | #10 Emma Pallant-Browne |
Haug tops in prize money
In terms of prize money, Haug made more than any other pro triathlete, amassing $335,788 thanks to a big win at the PTO European Open in Ibiza along with a number of runner-up finishes including Challenge Roth, the PTO Asian Open and the Ironman World Championship in Kona. In terms of consistency, no one can touch Haug’s record in 2023 – she won her first three races of the year, then took second in the next three. While you might argue she wasn’t facing incredibly competitive fields at Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote or Challenge Gran Canaria (her first two wins), the rest of her schedule included arguably the most competitive women’s distance races of the year – Ibiza, Roth, the PTO Asian Open and Kona.
“Finishing the season on the PTO top spot again makes me more than proud. Especially after the slightly changed points system, where you need to perform now at every distance,” said Haug. “It has been a really great year for me. Especially the win in Ibiza, which was a kind of a milestone in my career, because it had one of the greatest women’s fields in the history of the sport. I absolutely love the fast racing against the best in the world and can’t wait for the new PTO series to start.”
You can see the entire women’s rankings here.
Blummenfelt blasts through a mix of long-distance and draft-legal racing
In 2023 Blummenfelt balanced his quest for another Olympic gold medal with competing in the PTO Tour and it’s large prize purses, but despite that seeming impossible challenge Kristian Blummenfelt managed to take his first PTO win along with two other long-distance podium finishes (second in Ibiza and third in Milwaukee). The Norwegian star amassed the most money of any male pro because of all that PTO success, all while putting up some competitive results in draft-legal racing, setting himself up for another big day in Paris.
“Finishing top of the PTO World Rankings again is something I’m very proud of,” Blummenfelt said. “Every time I take to the start line, I race to win. It’s who I am as an athlete. I want to race the best athletes and that is exactly what it’s like in a PTO Tour race, so it’s no coincidence my three scoring results came in those races.”
You can see the final men’s rankings here.
