The Richest Pro Triathletes of 2023

With the 2023 triathlon season wrapping up, TriRating has compiled the numbers to see which athletes have earned the most prize money in the sport. Of course athletes have other ways of making money such as sponsorships or appearance money, which should add nice sums mainly for the top athletes, but there are no verifiable numbers for these categories. In addition, the numbers listed below are before expenses such as travel, equipment, coaching, or physio.

Across a total of 145 events that were considered, 819 athletes made some money, 445 men and 374 women. When compared to pro triathlon earnings in 2022, this is roughly 11% more events accounted for and 7.5% more athletes earning money.

The overall size of the prize money pot in triathlon in 2023 was roughly US$12.5M, breaking down to $9.8M for long course and $2.7M in short-course races. These figures show a 17% decrease in prize money totals from 2022—an 18% decrease in long-course events and a 10% decrease in short course. The overall money decrease in 2023 is mainly due to changes in the race calendar by Ironman and the PTO.

Back in 2022, Ironman had two full high-paying World Championship events, which led to a reduction from $3.3M in 2022 to $2.6M in 2023. They also paid out $1.75M at their 70.3 pro events. The PTO decided to put their 2023 focus on the PTO Tour and skipped the $2M Collins Cup. Including their end-of-year bonus, the PTO distributed $3.75M in 2023 after $5.55M in 2022. However, Challenge Family added ten new events to their calendar in 2023, increasing their overall prize money by 15% to $930,000.

For 2024, further changes in these top-line numbers are expected: Ironman has announced a pro series with a total end-of-year bonus of $1.7M, the PTO are expected to extend the PTO Tour, and Challenge is expected to add some more races as well.

In short-course racing, World Triathlon offered $1.84M in their WTCS series for 2023, while Super League paid out $850,000.

Who makes the most money in triathlon?

Women’s long course

Ashleigh Gentle was the 2022 top earner, and she also did well in 2023, winning the PTO Open in Asia and finishing second in Europe and the U.S. – earning more prize money than any top male (below). However, this year’s top female earner was Anne Haug: She won at the PTO European Open, was second in Asia, and had two more second places at Challenge Roth and in Kona.

Only Haug and Gentle appeared on both the 2022 and 2023 “big earners” list. Eight women made more than $100,000 in 2023 long-course prize money, four more than the year before. (Daniela Ryf was just a few dollars below that mark – and admittedly she probably made the bulk of her money from non-prize money sources in 2023.)

Men’s long course

Kristian Blummenfelt was the top earner for long course back in 2022, and even though his main goal for 2023 was the Paris test event, his three races on the PTO Tour also secured the top spot again in 2023: A win in Singapore, a second place in Ibiza and a third place in Milwaukee allowed him to defend his top spot in the PTO Rankings, also securing a nice end of year-bonus.

Second place went to Magnus Ditlev, who also earned money from Ironman and Challenge. Aside from Ditlev and Blummenfelt, no one else in the 2023 top five list appeared in the 2022 list.

There were 12 men who made more than $100,000 in 2023 long-course prize money, just one fewer than last year.

Men’s short course

The top spots in the men’s short-course table are dominated by athletes doing well in WTCS and Super League. Just like in 2022, Hayden Wilde was the top earner, even though he was “only second” in both series’. WTCS champion Dorian Coninx was the top earner from World Triathlon but he didn’t race in any Super League event.There were a total of 61 men earning prize money in the 2023 short-course races, four of them made more than $100,000 – the same number as in 2022.

Interestingly enough, unlike the long-course list, all but one of the top-five earners in 2023 were in the top earners list from 2022—perhaps indicating it’s “easier” to stay in the top spots in short course with less likelihood of injury or unpredictable race results.

Women’s short course

All top earners raced both WTCS and Super League, but it seemed to be harder for women to do well in both of them: Emma Lombardi made almost the same money from WTCS and Super League but was only fourth among the female short-course athletes. Top earner Beth Potter and second-place earner Cassandre Beaugrand did better on the WTCS side, while third Kate Waugh and fifth-place earner Jeanne Lehair earned more money from Super League.

54 women were able to earn prize money in the 2022 short-course calendar, with the top five all earning over $100,000 (versus four in 2022).

For the women, only Potter appears in both the 2022 and 2023 top-five earning list, while the rest are new names and faces.