IRONMAN Creates Pro Series, $1.7 Million Bonus Pool
2024 is shaping up to be a very lucrative year to be a professional triathlete, as IRONMAN today announced the creation of the IRONMAN Pro Series. The season-long championship will feature 18 events globally and award the first-ever IRONMAN Pro Series Championship at the end of the year — along with an incremental bonus pool of $1,700,000, awarded to athletes 1 through 50 at the end of the year.
The Pro Series will launch in 2024 with Oceanside 70.3 in April and conclude with the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Taupo. Points are earned by fast racing, with maximum points (5,000 for an IRONMAN, 2,500 for an IRONMAN 70.3) awarded for victory. Points are then deducted for every second behind the winner you are, with no floor. This could see multiple effects on racing; for instance, leaders may look to further extend the time gap to reduce the number of points on offer for others, or additional sprints for the finish from further back to maximize points on offer. There is no floor on points — they’re awarded so long as you finish within 83 minutes of the winner of an IRONMAN, and 41 minutes in a 70.3.
Both the IRONMAN World Championships and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships are part of the series and remain a single race competition. They will offer 6,000 and 3,000 points to their winners, respectively. An athlete’s top five points finishes — of which only three may be full-distance IRONMAN events — count for the end of year title and respective bonus pool. The first $1.3 million of the pool is split between the top 10 men and women in points. The remaining $400,000 is distributed evenly amongst men and women in positions 11-50 — effectively, a $5,000 stipend.
Notably, this prize pool is in addition to the existing individual race money on offer, bringing the total 2024 professional prize fund to nearly $6,000,000. According to IRONMAN, prize money offered at most races will remain unchanged, with a notable exception for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, which will see the money offered swell to $500,000. The races on offer are concentrated in North America, Europe, and Australia.
“We wanted to find a way of recognizing the exceptional talent of our top professional triathletes while also giving up-and-coming professionals an opportunity to thrive and make their mark”, said Andrew Messick, President and CEO for The IRONMAN Group. “The events have been carefully selected to ensure that they are accessible for our professional athletes, but also offer diverse courses so athletes can select races that are best suited to their strengths.”
The full schedule is below.
April 6, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside
April 27, 2024 – IRONMAN Texas
May 4, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship – St. George
May 11, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Alcudia, Mallorca
May 19, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga
June 2, 2024 – IRONMAN Hamburg – European Championship
June 8, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder
June 16, 2024 – IRONMAN Cairns
June 23, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Mont Tremblant
June 30, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne
July 16, 2024 – IRONMAN Vitoria-Gastiez
July 21, 2024 – IRONMAN Lake Placid
August 18, 2024 – IRONMAN Frankfurt – European Championship
August 25, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Tallinn
September 1, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun
September 22, 2024 – Women’s IRONMAN World Championship – Nice
October 24, 2024 – Men’s IRONMAN World Championship – Kona
December 1, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 Western Australia
December 14-15, 2024 – IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship – Taupo
And the end of year prize awards:
Pro Series Champion: $200,000
2nd: $130,000
3rd: $85,000
4th: $70,000
5th: $50,000
6th: $40,000
7th: $30,000
8th: $20,000
9th: $15,000
10th: $10,000
11-50 all awarded: $5,000
