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Seeking Survival and Success, World Triathlon and T100 Deepen Relationship
World Triathlon and T100 sign massive partnership, protein quality, and does running damage your knees?
Matthew Sharpe
October 11, 2024
In partnership with
Good morning everyone,
I had the pleasure of bumping into not one but two subscribers on the trail in the past days. It’s always great to catch up with Tempo readers to hear about their training/racing exploits and get newsletter feedback in person.
Thanks, Megan T. and Todd S. for the catch-up. Now if only I could have those same encounters with the rest of our readers…That’s probably too many runs 😅
P.S. If you do have feedback for the newsletter - good or bad - we’d love to hear from you! Just reply to this email.
In today’s edition:
🤝 Searching for survival and future success, World Triathlon and T100 deepen their relationship.
🏃 Does running damage our knees? And can we mitigate it?
💪 And how do you know if you’re taking in quality protein?
Thanks for being here.
-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor
Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free.
ONE BIG THING
Seeking Survival and Success, World Triathlon and T100 Deepen Relationship
PTO
What is it: After first establishing a partnership in 2023, it was announced on Wednesday that World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) have further expanded their commercial relationship with a new 12-year strategic partnership. The newly announced partnership will include:
The sole and exclusive Official World Championship Tour of Long Distance Triathlon.
Anti-doping management.
Collaboration on rights management, including sponsorship and broadcast.
It also allows both entities to explore new opportunities to grow the sport together, including hosting draft-legal World Triathlon events alongside the PTO’s T100 Triathlon World Tour.
Further intertwined: In the release, outgoing World Triathlon president Marisol Casado stated that the goal of the partnership is to “double down” on the excitement generated by the Olympic Triathlon races and upcoming World Triathlon and T100 Grand Final events. By seeing athletes stay within the new World Triathlon/T100 ecosystem fans will be able to engage with both short and long-distance triathlon races.
PTO CEO Sam Renouf remarked, that by forming a 12-year partnership, both sides have the opportunity to invest together in the longer-term development of the sport.
A relationship of necessity: For the PTO and it’s T100 Triathlon World Tour, the relationship offers needed stability in terms of a well-funded international governing body with a robust anti-doping program and exceptional human capital including technical officials.
For World Triathlon, the recent struggles of its flagship Championship Series - including a lack of willing hosts and difficulties retaining races - could see the T100 bring a return to relevancy and dynamic energy that has resulted in the successful execution of elite and age group races in global cities like Singapore, London, and Dubai.
Tempo’s take: This is promising news for both entities as they are both in a battle for survival amid a cutthroat endurance participation market and fractured media environment.
For World Triathlon and T100, not only are they competing against entities like IRONMAN and Challenge for participants, but they are also up against the most competitive mass-participation endurance market ever.
Running is booming again, and the rise of gravel cycling and trail running has eaten into triathlon’s market share.
IRONMAN has also been announcing new races at a robust clip.
And there’s also Pickleball to contend with…
In an algorithmically-driven, interest-based media environment these entities must always be “on” to drive engagement and build a meaningful fan base. Having more races within the World Triathlon/T100 ecosystem could help shore up dead spots in both series’ calendars.
A deeper partnership could result in successful large-scale “race festival” weekends with a World Triathlon Championship Series event alongside a T100 Triathlon Tour race.
New age group racing opportunities could include short and long-course races, plus other events like open water swims, increasingly popular Aquabike races, and even “music runs.”
These events could even put pressure on IRONMAN to bring more to the table for its athletes.
Of course, plenty has been promised before - including a long course series with five “continental championships.” The 12-year partnership length signals stability and longevity, but as we all know these splashy signings can go under incredibly quickly.
Both entities have underlying issues that need to be addressed. And this partnership can be an innovative way to solve their problems and grow the sport. But can a nimble profit-driven entity work well with a bureaucratic, development-orientated organization?
We’re about to find out.
Are you excited about the World Triathlon/T100 partnership? |
OTHER NEWS
IRONMAN Drops Incredible Start List for Kona
Current IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow (FRA), and previous winners Gustav Iden (NOR), Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), and Patrick Lange (GER) highlight a star-studded field that will be sure to provide non-stop action from start to finish.
And with athletes like Magnus Ditlev (DEN), Rudy Von Berg (USA), Lionel Sanders (CAN) also in attendance, it will be a race for the ages.
Plus, Matt Hanson (USA) will be looking to pad his lead in the overall IRONMAN Pro Series rankings and take home the season-ending bonus of $200k.
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FAVORITES
🏃 Knee plea: As we get older, our bodies definitely let us know! But could our training be damaging us? This article talks about whether running creates long-term damage for our knees, and how we can mitigate the effects on our bodies. [The Guardian]
🤨 Zone 3 for thee? Zone 2 training is meant to be where you build your engine, and zones 4 and 5 are where you develop racing speed. But what about zone 3? Is it just a waste of time? Or will the maligned middle child of training zones actually help you reach your goals? Find out here. [GTN]
💪 Quality protein: Protein is critical to support muscle maintenance and growth, and is vital to recovering well from hard training. But are all proteins created equal? Well, as it turns out, some protein is better than others. Find out which higher-quality proteins you should be taking here. [My Sports Science]
🏋️ Strength training as we age: As we age, the need for strength and conditioning becomes paramount. Not only can S&C help you improve age-associated factors, such as bone density and balance, but it can also help you stay injury-free and perform at your best. This article explains why older athletes need to strength train! [Precision Hydration]
REEL TIME
An underwater triathlon? This guy did one in six days! 😲
QUICK NEWS
Offspring on course: Dexter Holland is the frontman for the Offspring, he also happens to be an avid triathlete. So how does he train while on tour? Find out here. [Mens Health]
Official ovation: They are the unsung heroes of our races, and thanks to the wonderful work of technical officials many of us get the opportunity to compete and chase our goals! [Triathlon Magazine]
Keswick Championship: Keswick’s Lakesman Triathlon has been selected as the host of the 2025 British and English Triathlon Championships. [Keswick Reminder]
Triple-deca IRONMAN: Canadian Shanda Hill is only 187km away from finishing a mind-blowing triple-deca IRONMAN - which is the equivalent of racing 30 full-distance IRONMAN triathlons. [Vernon Morning Star]
YOU SAID
Are Tempo readers engaged with the 2024 Supertri season? Here’s what they had to say!
Reader: First year following the supertri / super league and I wish I would have tuned in sooner. Draft legal is basically a different sport but makes for exciting viewing with how close the finishes are.
Reader: The problem I have with supertri is that it feels a bit like a game show and less like a proper triathlon. I can't put my finger on it but I think it's the team concept and the often a bit too emotional coaches. T100, WTCS and IM was a lot more interesting to watch this season.
Reader: I'm a bit biased but always love to watch the races... even if it requires a 3am alarm. The coverage was great and I loved the introduction of filming completely with static cameras to ensure fair racing…in contrast to last year when Waugh got a massive boost from the moto.
Reader: Supertri probably has more power to enter the Asian market as well, They tried to get into the different sectors before but the hosting fees were quite expensive. But t100 has a wider spread with Singapore, supertri could look at coming back to Asia like China or other locations in the Middle East to get a gain on the T100.
Reader: The Format makes it quite entertaining which is a piece you also need to keep bringing triathlon into the mainstream. Just need more city venues, which is probably hard to come by and expensive to run.
Reader: SuperTri is by far the most entertaining of all triathlon products. They just need to figure out how to turn short course athletes into superstars. Then more people would watch it.
Reader: I went to the SuperTri-E event in London with my son this year. We absolutely loved it! Just wish there was a larger crowd there to have given it even more atmosphere.
WEEKEND RACES
IRONMAN Malaysia
Regan Hollioake (AUS) should take the women’s race with ease, while the men’s race could be an epic battle between the top three; Josh Amberger (AUS), Filipe Azevedo (POR), and Andreas Dreitz (GER).
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