Ironman Increases 70.3 World Championship Prize Purse

Ironman today announced that it will increase the prize purse for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship to $250,000 for 2014. The prize purse will be the largest award ever offered for the event. It is also the second biggest prize purse in long-course racing behind the Ironman World Championship, which hands out $650,000.

Ironman announced last year that the 70.3 World Championship would start rotating around the world, with the 2014 event taking place in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada on Sept. 7. The purse will be distributed among the top 10 professional male and female finishers, who earn the right to compete in Mont-Tremblant by qualifying at 70.3 events around the world. In total, more than 2,000 domestic and international athletes will compete in the 1.2 mile-swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run through the scenic Laurentian Mountains and around the Quebec countryside.

“The Ironman 70.3 race series has been steadily growing since its inception in 2006,” said Ironman CEO Andrew Messick. “Ten new Ironman 70.3 races were added to the calendar for 2014. As the sport of triathlon continues to grow globally, Ironman remains a leader in competitive prize purses – offering a total of $1.8 million for the 2014 Ironman 70.3 qualifying race series.”

Nearly 150,000 athletes will participate in the global Ironman 70.3 Series during the 2014-2015 season, which consists of over 70 events in locations such as Australia, Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa. Each age-group winner at the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship will automatically qualify for the 2015 Championship, which will be held in Europe.

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