Kyle Smith and India Lee take PTO Athlete of the Month Awards

A breakthrough win over some of the world’s best long-distance athletes made Great Britain’s India Lee the clear winner of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) Athlete of the Month for March, while New Zealand’s Kyle Smith’s impressive win at Challenge Wanaka was enough to net him the February award.

India Lee tops Lucy Charles-Barclay under the lights at T100 Miami

Lee has long been renowned as one of the sport’s top cyclists, but hasn’t traditionally put together strong run splits, which has prevented her from taking more titles in the past. That all changed in Miami as Lee overcame both the strong field and the heat to take the win over reigning Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay.

“Throughout my triathlon career I’ve been frustrated how my run has turned out because it’s been a bit average to be honest,” Lee said after the race. “But I know I had it in me to be able to run well. On one-off runs I can run well. So, in my head it was just a matter of time to put it together. Today was the first time that I’ve had a run that I’m actually proud of.”

Now, after proving both her running ability and strength in hot, humid conditions, Lee will head into the next T100 race in Singapore as one of the favourites.

Triathlon Magazine is part of a panel of triathlon media that includes Global Triathlon Network (GTN), Triathlete and  Tri-Mag.de that vote for their top three from a four-athlete shortlist – awarding 3 points for #1, 2 pts for #2 and 1 pt for #3 – with triathlon fans also voting via the T100 social handles. Lee dominated the voting with 15 points, while Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev second with nine points and Sam Long finishing third with six points. The other athlete in the running was Australia’s Ellie Salthouse, who won Ironman 70.3 Geelong.

Smith tops Sodaro by a point

The voting for the February Triathlete of the Month was considerably closer. In the running for the award was Smith, thanks to his win at Challenge Wanaka, Chelsea Sodaro, who dominated the field at Ironman 70.3 Tasmania, Nick Thompson (AUS), the men’s winner in Tasmania, and Els Visser (NED), who won the Wanaka race by more than eight minutes.

Smith earning 11 points to Sodaro’s 10, with Thompson getting five points and Visser four.

Smith described his Wanaka performance as his “best ever.”

“It all came together in Wanaka, to deliver a career-best performance,” he said.  “I was so happy to be able to do this on one of the most beautiful and brutal race courses I’ve ever raced on. It’s been a great summer of training here in New Zealand and I can’t wait to take this new found form back overseas for the rest of 2024, starting in Singapore.”