A Look At Triathletes' Global Prize Earnings

Challenge Family today released the mid-year prize money earnings of the top male and female professional triathletes racing everything from Olympic, draft-legal races to long-distance, non-drafting races.

The full report, which features just under 700 athletes, was generated by Challenge Family as part of its “commitment to developing the professionalism of the sport.” The project was generated as a result of the pro athlete forum conducted at the Challenge Bahrain triathlon in December. According to Challenge, the majority of athletes at the forum felt that triathlon should adopt a similar system that is applied at the FedEx Cup as part of the PGA Tour, a world ranking system determined by points.

Challenge Family responded by taking on the project in-house and has been tracking the earnings of every professional athlete for the past 28 weeks. The totals include all Challenge Family, World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman and 70.3) and ITU events, as well as key independent races.

“Challenge Family’s commitment to raising the standards for professional athletes in triathlon is unwavering and the need for an inclusive world ranking system is a step toward that goal to present as a unified sport,” said Challenge Family CEO Zibi Szlufcik in a press release. “Triathlon needs to move into line with premier sports like golf and tennis with a world ranking system. It not only rewards the best performed athletes, but provides a simple explanation to non-traditional media and the general public.”

According to the press release, Challenge Family will work toward modifications in line with ITU and having this adopted as an officially recognized world ranking system for the industry.

The current rankings represent the midway point of the 2015 triathlon season and will be updated on a weekly basis. Numbers are based on prize money only and do not include sponsorship earnings. Numbers are based on Challenge Family’s data and have not been verified. See the men’s and women’s rankings here.

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The Rankings

Men
1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) – 6 races – $84,299
2. Tim Reed (AUS) – 7 races – $61,500
3. Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) – 6 races – $59,100
4. Tim Don (GBR) – 4 races – $58,000
5. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) – 3 races – $48,000
5. Jan Frodeno (GER) – 3 races – $48,000
7. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) – 2 races – $45,000
8. Mario Mola (ESP) – 6 races – $43,100
9. Andy Potts (USA) – 5 races – $41,000
10. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – 3 races – $40,900
11. Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) – 3 races – $37,250
12. Fernando Alarza (ESP) – 6 races – $32,500
13. Jeff Symonds (CAN) – 3 races – $32,393
14. Richard Murray (RSA) – 5 races – $31,300
15. Matt Hanson (USA) – 1 race – $30,000
16. Cameron Brown (NZL) – 4 races – $29,750
17. Vincent Luis (FRA) – 3 races – $28,000
18. Dylan McNeice (NZL) – 5 races – $27,860
19. Callum Millward (NZL) – 4 races – $27,500
19. Lionel Sanders (CAN) – 4 races – $27,500
21. Sebastian Kienle (GER) – 4 races – $25,210

Women
1. Daniela Ryf (SUI) – 5 races – $109,049
2. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) – 5 races – $90,000
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) – 8 races – $72,234
4. Heather Wurtele (CAN) – 4 races – $69,500
5. Jodie Swallow (GBR) $57,500
6. Katie Zaferes (USA) – 5 races – $56,000
7. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) – 3 races – $46,000
8. Angela Naeth (CAN) – 3 races – $37,000
9. Gina Crawford (NZL) – 5 races – $36,585
10. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) – 2 races – $35,714
11. Liz Blatchford (AUS) – 5 races – $32,607
12. Ariane Monticeli (BRA) – 2 races – $31,500
13. Camilla Pedersen (DEN) – 5 races – $27,750
13. Heather Jackson (USA) – 3 races – $27,750
15. Sarah True (USA) – 5 races – $26,400
16. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) – 5 races – $$25,800
17. Sarah Piampiano (USA) – 7 races – $25,250
18. Alicia Kaye (USA) – 4 races – $24,000
19. Julia Gujer (GER) – 4 races – $23,500
20. Eva Wutti (AUT) – 3 races – $23,500