Kona star turns down PTO contract to focus on Ironman racing in 2024
Two-time Kona champion Patrick Lange turns down PTO contract to focus on Ironman racing in 2024
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Tomorrow marks the day when we’ll find out the details about the 2024 Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) Tour – both the athletes competing and the races – but we can add one more big name to the list of those who won’t be part of the PTO racing next year: two-time Kona champion Patrick Lange.
The German star, who was the first person to break the eight-hour barrier on the Big Island when he took his second win in 2018, finished second at the Ironman World Championship Nice last year and was 10th overall in the PTO Rankings. That meant that he received an invitation to sign a contract with the PTO for the 2024 series, but despite his thanks to the PTO for “setting up quite a show” he has “decided to stay true to my path.”
“With the @ironmantri Pro Series and the incredible races to choose from, my focus is on long course racing, Kona remains the ultimate goal 🌺,” Lange wrote in a post on Instagram.
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The 37-year-old is arguably the fastest runner in Ironman racing, having posted two 2:30 marathon splits (Challenge Roth, 2023 and Ironman Israel, 2022) and ran an impressive 2:32:41 in Nice last year on his way to the runner-up finish behind France’s Sam Laidlow. Last year, after the race in Nice, Lange told us (see the story below) that he felt he could win another world championship – it would appear that his focus will be on doing just that this October in Kona.
Patrick Lange’s key to staying at the top: the enjoyment is back