The PTO may officially stand for Professional Triathletes Organisation, but if it were up to Marten van Riel and Hayden Wilde, the “P” for Professional would be removed from the organisation’s name as soon as possible. Both top athletes are furious after the debacle that unfolded today at the T100 in Dubai.
In the race — about which you can read everything in detail here and here — Wilde, Van Riel, and Mathis Margirier first completed one lap too many on the bike course (nine laps instead of eight). After that, more than ten athletes ended up running one lap too few (five run laps instead of six). As a result, the standings were reshuffled multiple times, and in the end, Morgan Pearson was declared the winner.
Immediately after the finish, Wilde remarked, “And they call themselves a professional race organisation,” but the reportedly enraged athlete did not make any further public statements so far. Van Riel did, expressing himself clearly on his social channels.
“Shoutout to the real winner today; Ironman. I will give a bigger update on the whole situation later, but I am honestly quite devastated right now. I not only lost tens of thousands of dollars, but I mostly feel let down by an organisation I tried supporting and sacrificed a big part of my season for. I think the professional can go and we can just call it the “triathlon organisation” from today onwards.”