It’s not the amounts you see at PTO or Ironman – at least as far as the very largest races within these organizations are concerned – but Challenge Family is implementing a global increase in its prize money for this season. Challenge Roth, The Championship, Challenge Almere-Amsterdam and Challenge Samarkand remain the races where the most prize money can be earned.
Challenge Roth distributes a prize pool of just over 160,000 euros this season, The Championship 100,000 euros, Challenge Samarkand 75,000 euros and Challenge Almere-Amsterdam 50,000 euros. By dividing the previously winnable money at the Challenge Family World Bonus among individual races, the prize money at Challenge Taiwan, Challenge Sir Bani Yas, Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, Challenge Cesenatico, Challenge Salou, Challenge St Pölten, Challenge Gdańsk, Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee, Challenge Vieux-Boucau, Challenge Peguera-Mallorca, Challenge Barcelona and Challenge Xiamen goes up by 25,000 euros. In all cases, the six fastest athletes will be rewarded with prize money, both men and women.
According to Jort Vlam, Challenge Family CEO, there is a lot of pressure these days for pro athletes to choose only ‘one path’. “While we wholeheartedly support the continued professionalisation of our sport, we also want to give back flexibility to the athletes, providing them with choice and allowing them to maintain their schedule without the risk of changing calendars. The World Bonus has served its purpose well, supporting the early careers of some of the biggest names in the sport such as Magnus Ditlev, Sam Long and Fenella Langridge when they were up and coming pros. However, we must move with the times, providing opportunities for all athletes while continuing to focus on providing excellence at our events.”
