More British Pro athletes set for the PTO 2020 Championship

Another five British names join the Challenge Daytona start list

Athletes, organisers and the Professional Triathletes Organisation must all have a lot of fingers crossed right now, that the debut of the PTO Championship at Challenge Daytona on 6th December will not become a late notice victim of the pandemic we find ourselves in right now.

With a (recently increased) $1.15 million prize purse available, in a year which has seen the vast majority of professional racing opportunities vanish, the desire of the world’s best to finally go head-to-head will surely be substantial.

Putting those issues to the side for a moment, securing a start at the World Center of Racing, home of the Daytona 500 NASCAR event, has been much in the news in recent months. You thought that was all done? Not quite.

Over the past week a further 16 names have been added, this time under the Private Invitation banner of the Challenge Daytona organisers. Announcements completed, those names include five British athletes – Nikki Bartlett, Thomas Davis, Kieran Lindars, Ruth Astle and Jodie Stimpson.

Nikki Bartlett / PTO 2020 Championship / Challenge Daytona / Challenge Family Private Invitation

Thomas Davis / PTO 2020 Championship / Challenge Daytona / Challenge Family Private Invitation

The full list (16) of Challenge Family Private Invitations to the PTO 2020 Championships at Challenge Daytona on Sunday 6th December is as follows:

MEN

Eric Lagerstrom (USA)
Justin Metzler (USA)
Andrea Salvisburg (SUI)
Jason West (USA)
Taylor Reid (CAN)
Kieran Lindars (GBR)
Thomas Davis (GBR)
Jesper Svensson (SWE)

WOMEN

Anneke Jenkins (NZL)
Nikki Bartlett (GBR)
Alissa Doehla (USA)
Jodie Stimpson (GBR)
Kelsey Withrow (USA)
Ruth Astle (GBR)
Justine Mathieux (FRA)
Amelia Kretz (CAN)

Full list of British athletes racing at the PTO 2020 Championship?

So, where does that leave the potential start-list of British athletes who could be lining up in Florida on 6th December?

There are three different ways an athlete could have secured their place; through the PTO rankings (pre-qualifiers), as a PTO-selected wildcard, or as a one of the 16 Challenge Daytona Private Invitations outlined above.

[UPDATE! – I almost forgot, there was a fourth way of qualifying (!), as for the PTO-supported events in France and Florida, the PTO also offered an automatic qualifying slot to the first ‘not already qualified’ male and female athletes. These went to Justus Nieschlag (GER), Emma Bilham (SUI), Andre Lopes (BRA) and Lisa Becharas (USA)]

The PTO rankings qualifiers can actually be split into two, as I understand that in some instances those initially announced slots have rolled down, where an athlete is injured / can’t race / has chosen not to race / travel restrictions etc.

I’ve not seen a fully updated start-list as yet from the PTO (I’m sure that will follow soon), but what follows is my best effort as of now in pulling together what could be the final British contingent of qualifiers from all sources, based upon speaking to athletes themselves or their social media updates. I’ll update should I become aware of any additions or changes.

I fully expect some of these athletes NOT to be racing in December, but this is my current list of British QUALIFIED athletes.

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