Australians launch Super League Triathlon
An Australian consortium unveiled plans for a $1.5 million 2017 Super League Triathlon Series which will launch with a March 17-19 event of mixed-format short course races for a field of 25 male triathlon superstars on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
The invitation-only field will include double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and double Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain, 5-time ITU World Champion Javier Gomez and 2016 WTS World Champion Mario Mola of Spain, non-drafting star Cameron Dye of the U.S., and additional ITU stars from South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands and Slovakia.
The Hamilton Island event will include various multiples and sequences based on the basic units of 300 meter swim, 6 kilometer bike and 2 kilometer run, in race formats known as Triple Mix, Equalizer and Eliminator during the three days of competition.
"Of course, we're expecting the blockbuster clashes between the Brownlees, Gomez and Mola,” said McCormack, a two-time Ironman World Champion and multiple ITU World Champ. “However, it may not always be at the front of the field. Our race formats also play to the strengths of the standout swimmers, bikers and runners who can destroy the traditional race strategy and lead from the front. And then there's the young brigade of super talented athletes like Jake Birtwhistle, whose blistering run speed is made for Super League Triathlon racing. These next generation athletes have little regard for reputation and Super League Triathlon is the ultimate platform for them to shake up the establishment."
The Hamilton Island race will offer the winner a $100,000 payout from an overall purse of $206,800. According to Super League co-founders Chris McCormack, Michael D’Hulst and Leonid Boguslavsky, the series will proceed at locations to be determined in the Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern Gulf states. The Super League will roll out a similarly high-profile field of women to join the men at races later in 2017, according to Super League Chief Marketing Officer Trent Taylor.
The slam-bang short course action is based on the original Australian Formula One triathlon series popular in the 1990s and revived in the Island House Triathlon, a half million dollar made-for-TV event held in 2015 and 2016 in Nassau, Bahamas. Super League officials said their races will be broadcast on live television by Fox Sports Australia and Eurosport and will be streamed live around the globe on www.superleaguetriathlon.com
