Has Brexit hurt triathlon, too?

A few weeks ago it was announced that Ironman would be dropping a race from its schedule next year, and changing the full-distance race in Bolton to an Ironman 70.3 race. While there weren’t many details provided in the statement (see below), the changes appear to illuminate many of the challenges race organizers are facing in that country. Here’s the release that appeared on The Ironman UK Facebook page:

Ironman UK Race Calendar Update

It has been an exciting start to the UK triathlon season following Ironman UK in Bolton, and Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire with thousands of athletes crossing the finish line in the UK summer. As athletes start to plan their 2024 seasons, next year’s season will have a different look as Ironman restructures its 2024 event calendar.

Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire will unfortunately not be taking place next year. The race has been an athlete favourite since its first edition eight years ago, with the event’s evolution from the early years at Shugborough Estate to the move into Stafford where the Knights of Stafford Castle and the unwavering spectator support in Stafford’s Market Square, played a part in creating some truly special memories for our athletes.

In addition, Ironman UK in Bolton will become Ironman 70.3 Bolton in 2024. Bolton has been home to Ironman UK for the last 14 years providing the stage for so many athletes to achieve their triathlon goals and to help grow the sport of triathlon in the UK. With the introduction of Ironman 70.3 Bolton, we look forward to bringing in the next era of swim, bike, run in Bolton as we continue to deliver great race experiences for athletes in the UK and hope to inspire a new wave of triathletes in the North!

We want to thank both Stafford Borough Council for their unwavering support over the last 8 years and helping to make this journey a success.

A couple of days ago there was more news that didn’t bode well for triathlon racing in the UK. This time it was from British Triathlon:

British Triathlon, in conjunction with Leeds City Council and UK Sport has decided not to bid to host a World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) event in 2024.

The costs of hosting WTCS races has been escalating for several years. Following a detailed feasibility process and in consultation with all event staging partners, the challenging economic climate has meant that it would not be financially viable for the event to take place in 2024, despite the considerable financial and value in kind commitment from Leeds City Council and UK Sport.

Leeds has been a great host of WTCS events for many years and is synonymous with Triathlon as the training centre for several of British Triathlon’s World Class Programme athletes. It is also a key partner in British Triathlon’s efforts to grow swim, bike and run amongst underrepresented communities.

Hosting major events remains a part of British Triathlon’s strategy, and the organisation is working with its partners, including Leeds City Council and UK Sport, to explore different ways to enable a return of a WTCS event in future years.

While Ironman didn’t cite a “challenging economic climate” as British Triathlon did, one would imagine that the decision to cut a race and reduce another to a 70.3 is based on entries, and economic forecasting. There were 843 finishers of Ironman UK this year. Those aren’t the kind of numbers Ironman likes. They’ll likely live with that for a licensed event, but for an event the company owns, that won’t cut it. As Great Britain struggles with its economy, Ironman and British Triathlon are likely hedging their bets that in an already tough climate for sponsorship and entries, things aren’t likely to get any better in 2024.

Collins Cup

The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), which is based in the UK, quietly let athletes know last month that it would not be hosting its flagship event, the Collins Cup this year. Here’s part of the message that was sent out to its members regarding the cancellation of the event, which was rumoured to be scheduled for Marakesh, Morocco:

“Timing and logistics did not allow for us to deliver the event to the high standards we require, especially given the scale of our broadcast production. As has been shared before, our intention is that the majority of PTO events will take place over multiple days, with independent races for Pro Men and Pro Women as well as entirely separate opportunities for age groupers to race. While this ensures the best ‘product’ it does have a bigger operational impact on our host cities compared to ‘normal’ single day (or morning) event. Our focus now turns to ensuring we deliver to these high standards with the PTO US Open in Milwaukee and the PTO Asian Open in Singapore.”

“The Collins Cup remains an important format for the PTO and will return in the future, but our immediate focus is on delivering great events at the PTO US Open in Milwaukee on 4-5 August and inaugural PTO Asian Open in Singapore on 19-20 August – and then securing an expanded 2024 calendar, which we will announce later this year.”