News

IRONMAN has announced the creation of the IRONMAN® Pro Series, a performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series champion and their share of $1.7 million in year-end bonus pool payouts after 12 months of racing action.

The IRONMAN Pro Series will be contested over 18 designated events in the 2024 pro circuit, including a combination of six full-distance IRONMAN and nine IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlons from around the globe as well as the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship Women’s and Men’s races and VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. The 2024 series will kick off at the 2024 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon on April 6 and will run through the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand on December 14 and 15, 2024.

Designed to showcase and reward the exceptional talent of the world’s top professional triathletes the series will also provide broader year-round interest and intrigue through deeper pro fields, storylines, and live broadcasting. The new IRONMAN Pro Series bonus pool runs in parallel to and on top of the already established individual event prize purses at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 pro events bringing the total 2024 professional prize money and bonus pool on offer to nearly $6 million. Prize money for individual pro races on the circuit will remain consistent with past years, with a few adjustments, including an increase of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship prize purse to $500K.

All professional athletes, of which there are approximately 1,000, are eligible and will start on a level playing field to begin the season. At each of the 18 designated IRONMAN Pro Series events, professional athletes will earn points based on their finish times to count towards a final Series ranking. A first placed finish earns maximum points – 5,000 points for IRONMAN and 2,500 points for IRONMAN 70.3, while winning the IRONMAN World Championship will earn 6,000 points and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship will earn 3,000 points. Points are then cascaded based on the time deficit to first place. Fast racing will pay off with one point per second deducted based on deficit to the winning time, with no points floor.

While professional athletes can choose any combination of designated races in the series, only the top five race performances of the year will count towards an athlete’s final ranking, of which a maximum of three IRONMAN event results can be counted. The Top 10 ranked athletes in each gender at the end of the IRONMAN Pro Series will share $1.3 million in bonus pool, with the top placed male and female taking home $200,000 each. A further $400,000 in financial assistance will be paid out equally to athletes ranked 11th – 50th in each gender.

The professional athlete’s qualification policy for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship remains the same rolling into 2024, and validation rules for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 champions and podium finishers, will be reinstated for 2024 after being suspended during COVID years and the changing World Championship schedule.

“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.  We look forward to the inaugural race of the Pro Series at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, that will undoubtedly set the tone for an incredible year of racing.”