17,336 Miles, 1 Seal Bite, and $1.4 Million: Facts and Figures from the 2022 Super League Championship
The 2022 Super League Championship Series comes to a close with a thrilling race in NEOM. Look back on this season's triumphs (and tetanus shots), plus get the details on how to watch the Super League finale livestream starting at 7:00 ET Saturday.
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This weekend sees the culmination of the 2022 Super League Triathlon Championship Series with a first-of-its-kind race in NEOM, Saudi Arabia. The five-race series has seen short-course triathletes globe-trotting around the world to race a variety of fast and furious swim-bike-run formats. We’ve assembled some of the key facts and figures from Super League 2022 to get you caught up on the Series standings as we head into Saturday’s decider.
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The 2022 Super League Championship Series: By the Numbers
$1.4 million – The total prize purse to be awarded for the 2022 Super League Series across individual and team competitions.
17,336 miles – The 2022 series comprises 5 events. Kicking off in London in early September, athletes then traveled to race in Munich, Malibu, Toulouse before heading to NEOM this weekend for over 17,000 travel miles.
$15,000 jersey bonus – Super League racing rewards individual discipline skills within the sport of triathlon. That means that the best swimmer, cyclist and runner across the series stands to earn $15,000 if they secure the swim, bike or run leaderboard jersey for their performances across all five races. These jersey competitions provide a substantial payday for athletes that have a standout discipline but are not be in contention for the overall series. South Africa’s Jamie Riddle is a great example as his strong swim puts him on top in the swim jersey competition, compared to his ranking of 9th on the overall leaderboard.
4 Series – After a successful test race on Hamilton Island in 2017, Super League rolled out officially in 2018 and the 2022 Series marks the fourth full season of Super League racing.
$185,000 accumulated prize money – Hayden Wilde is currently top of the leaderboard for the men. Having won three of four races to date, he has an almost unassailable lead for the 2022 overall Super League title and he already has the run jersey wrapped up. In addition, Wilde is in contention for the best cyclist jersey and his team, the Sharks, are leading the team competition. If he pulls off the win in NEOM, securing the bike jersey and helping the Sharks to team competition along the way, his total race winnings from the series will tally $185,000.
86.5km – Tallying up the distances across the 2022 Series super sprint races reveals a unique triathlon distance. To put that in context, the total swim distance of 4.5km is longer than an iron-distance swim, and 23.2km of running is just a couple of kilometers longer than a half-iron run. However, at 58.8km, the cumulative cycling distance is less than two-thirds the distance of a half-iron bike.
$160,000 accumulated prize money – Georgia Taylor-Brown is currently tied with USA’s Taylor Spivey on points in the series for the women’s overall title. With two wins from four races, the Brit has the edge heading into the final round in NEOM. Taylor-Brown also has a narrow lead in the bike jersey competition and her Bahrain Victorious Scorpions team are in the running, alongside the Sharks, for the team title. Completing the trifecta of victories in NEOM, would earn Taylor-Brown $160,000 from the 2022 Series, a solid increase compared to her $140,000 2021 Super League winnings when she also earned the overall title.
3 formats – Super League Triathlon is contested over three separate racing formats – Triple Mix, Eliminator and Enduro – that combine multiple rounds of swim, bike and run, often with the order mixed up and with varying breaks between rounds. The NEOM decider will be the Enduro format which is three back to back triathlons, swim-bike-run, without breaks.
$120,000 – The winning team at Super League will be awarded $120,000 of the total prize purse. That equates to $15,000 each for the four men and four women members of the winning team. Super League’s team format ensures that every single athlete competing in the race series takes home a paycheck for their swim, bike and run efforts.
1 charter flight – Super League arranges all travel and accommodation for athletes competing in the Super League Series and this year they’ve chartered a flight to transport athletes to the final race destination. The final round of the 2022 series is taking place in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, as part of the NEOM Beach Games. The charter flight from Europe will simplify travel for athletes and race staff alike heading to the unique NEOM venue.
40 bikes – With forty athletes competing and traveling around the world, it also means that forty bikes need to be transported as part of the luggage cargo wherever the athletes travel.
5 bike crashes – Super League’s fast and furious form of racing with crit-style bike courses is not without risk. Five athletes have hit the deck while racing this season. Thankfully no serious injuries have been sustained. However, crashes have impacted the overall standings. Australia’s Matt Hauser was eliminated early after crashing while leading the race in Malibu. At the same venue, in the women’s race, Taylor-Brown crashed losing precious seconds to Spivey, who would go on to win the Malibu event.
1 seal bite – Open water swimming presents its own set of dangers and Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca was bitten by a seal during a training swim ahead of this year’s Malibu event. Vilaca did receive a tetanus booster after the incident to reduce the risk of infection from the bite.
Super League NEOM: Course and format
The NEOM race will utilize the Enduro format, which Super League calls its “most brutal” combination of endurance and strategy. The Super League Enduro is one massive mini-triathlon (swim-bike-run), repeated three times (or three “stages”) continuously to see who will emerge victorious.
RELATED: Saudi Arabia’s Start in Triathlon
How to watch the Super League NEOM Livestream:
The Super League NEOM livestream kicks off at 7:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 29 with the women’s race, followed by the men’s race at 8:40 a.m. ET. You can stream the full event live for free on the Super League website. Outside+ members will also be able to stream the race on demand after the conclusion of the event. Not an Outside+ member? Become one here for only $2.49 per month.