The world’s best triathletes including two-time Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee (GBR), dual Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), five-time ITU Triathlon World Champion Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) and reigning ITU Triathlon World Champion Mario Mola (ESP) are among twenty-five superstar athletes that have signed lucrative Super League Triathlon contracts for the championship series. In what is a closed league series open only to athletes who have secured a Super League Triathlon championship series contract, all athletes will race in Super League Triathlon uniforms and chase USD $1.5 Million in professional prize money and incentives over season one of Super League Triathlon.

“Super League Triathlon is here to bring mainstream attention to triathlon and usher the sport into the big leagues of sport entertainment,” Super League Triathlon co-founder Chris McCormack said.

“All races are being broadcast live on television, on our digital platforms, and our racing and content focuses on what fans want to see. The racing is frenetic and action-packed but we’ll also tell the stories behind the racing. Don’t think for a second that it’s all happy families among our athletes. We’ll highlight the rivalries, the personality clashes and intensity of a closed-league, big prize money series. For triathlon and sports fans we’ll be taking them deeper into the inner sanctum than ever before.”

Super League Triathlon is committed to innovation and sports entertainment. As part of this process each athlete has been given the opportunity to pick their race number to appear on their race apparel. Fans will be able to purchase replica race apparel and merchandise of their favourite athlete featuring their name and race number.

“Even with the selection of race numbers there’s already mind games going on,” explained McCormack. “Javier Gomez Noya was straight out of the blocks and picked number 1, which leaves no-one doubting where he sees himself. Alistair Brownlee responded with the number 23, the most famous number in world sport and associated with one of the greatest and most influential athletes of all time. There’s no love lost here.”

Alistair Brownlee knows that he will have a target on his back at Super League Hamilton Island, but has a warning for those who lay claim to the Super League Triathlon title.

“Super League Triathlon will be exciting, dynamic racing and great viewing for all sports fans. There’s a bit of chatter from the younger guys about the heat, the shorter distances, and a few of them fancy themselves for the win. While the formats are new and innovative, they’ve still got to swim, bike and run and they have to remember that their weaknesses will still be highlighted. It’ll be a lot of fun,” said Brownlee.

Super League Triathlon has dispensed with the traditional swim, bike and run formula with five unique race formats that provide variety, unpredictability and requires athletes to apply new strategy and race tactics in each format. Super League Triathlon race formats include a 300m Swim, 6km Bike and 2km Run with varying multiples and sequences of each discipline across the five race formats. The Super League Triathlon race formats for the championship series include ‘Triple Mix’, ‘Equalizer’, ‘Eliminator’, ‘Sprint Pursuit’ and ‘Enduro’. In each format athletes will compete for prize money, championship series points and the prestigious series leader jersey and the swim, bike and run leader’s jerseys.

“Our race formats are a game changer and we’re going to find out who is truly the greatest multisport athlete on the planet. We’ve seen it so often over the years with the Brownlees and Gomez dominating in short course and in long course we see a relatively similar story unfold race after race,” said McCormack.

“Of course, we’re expecting the blockbuster clashes between the Brownlees, Gomez and Mola, however, it may not always be at the front of the field. Our race formats also play to the strengths of the standout swimmers, bikers and runners who can destroy the traditional race strategy and lead from the front. And, then there’s the young brigade of super talented athletes like Jake Birtwhistle whose blistering run speed is made for Super League Triathlon racing. These next generation athletes have little regard for reputation and Super League Triathlon is the ultimate platform for them to shake up the establishment.”

The inaugural Super League Triathlon event will take place on Hamilton Island, located on the incredible Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with three days of racing on March 17, 18 and 19, 2017. Athletes will race in the Triple Mix (March 17), Equalizer (March 18) and Eliminator (March 19) formats over the three days. With hot days and a brutal course punctuated by steep climbs and dangerous descents on the bike, and a super-fast looped run course, athletes will be racing on the limit on all three days.

Super League Hamilton Island will be broadcast live on Fox Sports (Australia), Eurosport (Europe) and across the globe at www.superleaguetriathlon.com. More information about the Super League Hamilton Island event, including a detailed race schedule, course information and broadcast schedule will be released in the coming days.

While the Super League Triathlon championship series is spearheaded by the world’s best triathletes, age group athletes will also have the chance to race in Super League Triathlon from late 2017 onwards. With multiple event destinations set to be announced across the Asia-Pacific and Gulf regions, age group athletes can race the Super League Triathlon 626 format – a 600m swim, 20km bike and 6km run – at Super League Triathlon events. Super League Triathlon events will also feature participation opportunities for all with junior events, fun runs and health and lifestyle events as part of the event weekend, inspiring new generations to take up the sport.

A female championship series will commence from late 2017 onwards in the same locations as the male championship series events.

Fans can connect with Super League Triathlon via:

About Super League Triathlon

Pitting the world’s best triathletes across unique short course formats for big prize money in a closed league series, Super League Triathlon provides pulse-pounding action, superstars to root for, and a spectator experience without parallel. Super League Triathlon catapults triathlon into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of triathlon and sports fans worldwide. By offering incredible TV and digital content output with live race day television broadcasts, live race day digital streaming and Video on Demand content, we’ll be showcasing our Championship athletes and the sport of triathlon like never before. Super League Triathlon features action-packed racing formats in dramatic locations and fan-friendly courses across Asia-Pacific and the Gulf. We’re committed to setting the gold standard experience for age groupers, professional athletes, and fans alike.

Super League Triathlon was co-founded by two-time Ironman and two-time ITU World Champion Chris McCormack, and Michael D’Hulst and Leonid Boguslavsky, three successful businessmen and passionate triathletes brought together by a common desire to break new ground in the sport of triathlon.

SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON CONTRACTED ATHLETES

Super League Triathlon’s championship series is a ‘closed-league’ series with participation by invitation only. Twenty-five superstar athletes including Olympic medalists, ITU World Champions and long course champions have secured a contract for the inaugural Super League Hamilton Island event. Athletes will race in Super League Triathlon uniforms and have personally chosen their race numbers which will appear on their race uniforms and event apparel.

Athletes are listed in alphabetical order.

Surname First Name Country Race Number
Amberger Josh AUS #27
Bailie Ryan AUS #39
Birtwhistle Jake AUS #44
Blummenfelt Kristian NOR #02
Bozzone Terenzo NZL #13
Brownlee Alistair GBR #23
Brownlee Jonathan GBR #05
Dye Cameron USA #08
Grajales Valencia Crisanto MEX #06
Fabian Alessandro ITA #88
Fisher Ryan AUS #10
Gomez Noya Javier ESP #01
Maloy Joe USA #99
McMahon Brent CAN #83
Mola Diaz Mario ESP #03
Murray Richard RSA #07
Polyanskiy Dmitry RUS #77
Polyanskiy Igor RUS #11
Ragnarsson Sigurdur Orn ISL #57
Royle Aaron AUS #26
Salvisberg Andrea SUI #69
Schoeman Henri RSA #04
Shaw Ben IRL #73
van Egdom Jorik NED #21
Varga Richard SVK #12

SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON RACE FORMATS

Super League Triathlon race formats include a 300m Swim, 6km Bike and 2km Run with varying multiples and sequences of each discipline across the five race formats. All Super League Triathlon racing is expected to be completed in an hour or less.

Triple Mix A three-round race with a 10-minute break in between rounds, taken from the time the first athlete crosses the finish line in the previous round. In round one athletes will complete a swim-bike-run sequence. In round two athletes will run-bike-swim and in round three athletes will bike-swim-run. The winner of Triple Mix is determined by the athlete with the lowest accrued time over the three rounds.
Equalizer A two-part race with part one comprising an individual time trial (cycling) and part two comprising a continuous swim-run-swim-bike-run sequence. The tough individual time trial course rewards the strong cyclists. Any time lost by an athlete in the part-one individual time trial is served as a penalty in part two of Equalizer. The winner is the first athlete across the finish line in part two.
Eliminator A three-round race with a 10-minute break in between rounds, taken from the time the first athlete crosses the finish line in the previous round. Athletes will complete a swim-bike-run sequence in each round. Athletes finishing in 16th place and above in round one are eliminated. Athletes finishing in 11th place and above in round two are eliminated. The final ten athletes will race in round 3 with the winner of Eliminator being the first athlete across the finish line in Round 3.
Enduro A race for the endurance athlete with a continuous swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run sequence. The winner of Enduro is the first athlete across the finish line upon completion of the entire race sequence.
Sprint Pursuit A two-part race with part one being an individual time trial over a swim-bike-run format (Sprint). Part two is a Pursuit, a continuous swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run sequence. Athletes are awarded a start time slot in the Pursuit based on their finish position in the Sprint. The Pursuit will commence twenty (20) minutes after the last finisher of the Sprint. The first place finisher in the Sprint receives a seven-second head start in the Pursuit over the second place finisher in Sprint. Athletes ranked two-to-five in the Sprint start the Pursuit in 5 second intervals (in order of their Sprint finish position) and all finishers finishing 6th position and above in the Sprint will start Pursuit at further 3 second intervals in the order that they finished in the Sprint.

Future Super League Triathlon events will include age group racing across the Super League Triathlon ‘626’ format with age group athletes completing a 600m Swim, 20km Bike and 6km run. Future events will also include youth events, fun runs and health and lifestyle expos, providing participation opportunities for all ages and abilities.