T100 Distance in the Olympics? World Triathlon Looks for a “Bold Shift in Mindset and Structure”

There was enough exciting racing going on last weekend at the World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg event that we didn’t really get around to reporting on the “event summit” that was taking place at the same time. At the summit World Triathlon released a report – “Future of World Triathlon” – which was put together in partnership with Deloitte.

You can read the full report here.

A 100 km Olympic Event?

While it wasn’t included in the report (as far as I can see, anyway), one of the topics that came up in the discussion at the summit was the inclusion of a T100-distance race at the Olympics at some point.

“The potential inclusion of the T100 distance in the Olympic program is exciting and could significantly enhance the sport’s global appeal, offering a more accessible and spectator-friendly format,” Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) CEO Sam Renouf said during the panel discussion. “We are eager to explore how we can work with World Triathlon to make this a reality.”

While it sure would be fun to see a long-distance race at the Olympics, making that “a reality” sure seems like a stretch. All indications are that the Olympics are doing everything they can to keep the athlete numbers the same (10,500), or even decrease them. Adding events seems to be fine, as long as the overall numbers don’t grow. So, a mixed relay works. Adding an eliminator or SuperTri type race might also work since it would still involve the same athletes. Adding a long-distance race? While some Olympic-distance athletes are great over the 100 km distance, very few could excel at an Olympic-distance race and a long-course event within a week of each other. So, to add the 100 km distance, you’d need to add athletes.

With Australia hosting the 2032 Games, and it being a tri-friendly country, one would imagine there could be some appetite for a demonstration sport added to the mix. Whether or not a three to four hour race would be attractive compared to something shorter and more dynamic seems to be the big question, though.

Even though it seems like a long shot, the fact that it was even being discussed shows the upside for the PTO’s partnership with World Triathlon, which provides both exposure and global recognition. As you’ll read below, the PTO could very well be positioned to take on a larger role within World Triathlon beyond its current partnership.

The Future of World Triathlon

The report, or, as the intro puts it, a “joint initiative between World Triathlon and Deloitte” (I would love to know how much World Triathlon paid Deloitte for the study), “was launched in light of an important paradox: while interest in health, fitness and endurance sports is on the rise globally, participation in triathlon has stagnated – or even declined – in several key markets.” It’s an interesting read, filled with lots of interesting suggestions for how World Triathlon can and should change to become more relevant and to become more of a commercial success.

Here are a few takeaways:

Triathlon Events “Fragmented Landscape”

The global triathlon landscape is highly fragmented. At the international level, the sport is shaped by a complex web of private organisers, committees, public authorities, federations and clubs— each operating with distinct goals and formats.

You think? The report sites that there are over 20 different race formats in the sport. There are a bunch of different world championships and even those involved in the sport are easily confused by all the different options.

“As the international federation, TRI (World Triathlon) must be seen not as a regulator or a competitor, but as an enabler,” the report states. “To unlock triathlon’s full potential, collaboration and enablement must replace fragmentation. Only then can the sport scale – and succeed – on the global stage.”

Those of us who are old enough to remember the World Triathlon/ IRONMAN battles of the old days are certainly thrilled that there is much more of a sense of working together these days, but the folks from Deloitte certainly seem to be indicating that there’s even more work that can be done on this front.

“Mass participation remains the sole profitable segment across organisers.” Athletes head up Solar hill during Challenge Roth. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

World Triathlon Events are too Expensive … Mass Participation is Where the Money Is

The report cites a $300,000 price tag for putting on a World Cup event (it only gets more expensive for a World Triathlon Championship Series race) “with nearly a third going to fees, officials, anti-doping and sanctioning.” The report, which lauds USA Triathlon (USAT) as “one of the few major national federations that operates on a fully sustainable business model based entirely on private funding,” notes that this is why we don’t see very many elite races in the US. Hosts that are putting these races on are doing so with the support of public funding – read government support. Because these elite races aren’t profitable, USAT can’t afford to take them on.

“World Triathlon events rely predominantly on government funding (40-50%), with limited revenue from registration (20–30%), sponsorships (7–10%), expo (5–7%), and other sources (2–3%), resulting in many events struggling to break even, especially if they are Elite-only and can’t rely on registration revenue,” according to the report. “Private organisers like Ironman and Challenge achieve profitability through lower technical costs and stronger revenue streams in participation, sponsorship, expo, and merchandising … Mass participation remains the sole profitable segment across organisers, but without reinvestment and a professional growth strategy, this will not continue to be the case for World Triathlon.”

This backs up the feeling that the PTO could never make a go as a professional race series – it had to become an events company if it were ever to be able to make money.

The report goes further on that front:

“Most elite sports generate revenue from broadcasting rights, sponsorships and ticketing. For World Triathlon (and other event organisers), this model is harder to achieve: it lacks control over athlete (and even event) image rights and holds many events in open-access venues with limited ticketing potential.”

Mass Participation

The report suggests that World Triathlon “reprioritize focus areas” that includes high-profile events to “attract sponsors and media,” and allocate resources “between elite competitions and mass participation.”

World Triathlon does have some successful mass participation events – the age group world championships over the various distances. Those events don’t seem to get the same emphasis as the elite racing, though – something the report seems to agree with.

“Critically, mass participation cannot be treated as a secondary or supporting activity; it must be seen as a high-priority business opportunity. Without dedicated focus and innovation, there is a real risk of losing market share, forfeiting valuable revenue, and missing the chance to use these events as powerful platforms to elevate the sport’s overall visibility and commercial appeal.”

The report also suggests that World Triathlon “should also develop revenue streams like certification courses, workshops, coaching and academy services to strengthen finances and grow the sport.”

T100 London

A new Commercial Entity as part of World Triathlon – is that the PTO?

To be able to separate itself from governing the sport while also putting on events, the report suggests that World Triathlon follow the International Volleyball Federation’s (FIVB) lead and set up different entities within the organization. Setting up a commercial entity separate from World Triathlon’s governing arm would create a division that could focus on putting on races. (FIVB has a third entity – a Foundation – that “focuses on grassroots development and promotion.”)

Is this possibly where the Professional Triathletes Organisation fits in to the picture? Now that it’s putting on events and looking to attract age group athletes, the PTO is certainly setting itself up to be able to fill that type of role. Later this year the PTO will be putting on an event alongside the world championship in Wollongong, which could set up a template for future cooperation on that front. Add in a 12-year partnership deal between the two entities, and you have the makings of a win-win situation for both sides.

Enabling vs Competition

“World Triathlon is well positioned to grow, building on several key strengths: a strong global network of National Federations, its unique role as the sole Olympic pathway for athletes, several profitable businesses lines, trusted relationships across the sport, and deep technical expertise. These assets form a solid foundation for future commercial expansion.”

World Triathlon will face some interesting challenges as it looks to build out on these suggestions from the report. (I hasten to add that I’ve just picked a few takeaways – there’s lots in there.) It certainly makes sense for the federation to take over its mass participation races to earn revenue from those events, but if it were to try to expand beyond that it will be stepping into the realm of race organizers its supposed to be supporting. Ditto for other revenue streams like coaching certification and workshops – the national federations are using that as a revenue stream at this point.

The report does emphasize, though, how important collaboration will be to World Triathlon’s growth.

“Collaborate more actively with private organisers who have already built commercial and operational capabilities,” it states. “Growth depends on shared ambition, not competition within the ecosystem.”

At the end of the day, that seems to be the overarching message from this report – triathlon is only going to grow if everyone works together to make that happen. There was a huge change in terms of cooperation and collaboration in the sport when Marisol Casado took over as the president of World Triathlon 16 years ago. Her successor, Antonio Arimany, appears ready to embrace even more collaboration within the sport based on this report.

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