PTO Championship now offering largest prize purse in triathlon history
Championship event in Florida now offers sport's largest-ever prize purse
Photo by:
Jose Luis Hourcade
The Professional Triathletes Organisation has upped the ante for its upcoming Championship event that will be part of Challenge Daytona in December. An additional US$150,000 has been added to the previously announced US$1 million prize purse, making it the largest prize purse ever offered in a triathlon event.
The Championship event will be part of Challenge Daytona, which is scheduled to run from December 4 to 6 at the Daytona International Speedway. The pro race takes place on December 6.
The $1.15 million prize purse is almost twice that offered at the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii ($650,000) and almost five times the amount offered at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship ($250,000).
Related: Challenge Daytona to host PTO Middle Distance Championship
The additional money will be distributed to athletes who finish between 21st and 60th in the event – each will receive $2,500. The winner of the race in Daytona will earn $100,000, while the 20th-place finisher will earn $4,000. Click on the link below to see the prize-money breakdown for the race.
It has been a long time since a triathlon event has offered a million-dollar payout – between 2011 and 2013 the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines, Iowa offered between $1 million and $1.1 million in total prize money. In 2013 the prize purse dropped to $500,000 and Hy-Vee discontinued the event in 2014.
