New qualification route announced for Super League Triathlon
Interesting news today from Super League Triathlon (www.superleaguetriathlon.com), which directly addresses one of the points I raised when the concept was first announced at the beginning of 2017.
Shortly after that announcement I wrote a piece entitled, Is Super League Triathlon good for the sport?, and one of my feedback comments there was:
I would also like to see some form of opportunity for relegation / promotion. Super League Triathlon is “a closed league series open only to athletes who have secured a Super League Triathlon championship series contract”.
While accepting the ‘our game, our rules!’ rights of a commercial organiser, providing athletes from outside of the series to potentially earn a contract to race in it – via medals at ITU / IRONMAN / Money List / Other, just as examples – would seem consistent with the desire to “highlight the rivalries, the personality clashes and intensity”. Anyone in the UK at least, will be more than familiar with the excitement that can be created by relegation / promotion battles…
On that score, the addition of Super League Penticton in Canada on August 17-19 2018 has to be a good thing. If you think you are good enough and deserve a Super League Triathlon contract, you can now prove it and win your place directly.
Here is the full announcement.
SUPER LEAGUE PENTICTON TO OFFER GOLDEN TICKET INTO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Super League Triathlon today announced the roll-out of its Qualifier Series with the introduction of Super League Penticton in Canada on August 17-19, 2018. The second tier to the Championship Series, the Qualifier Series allows every professional athlete worldwide a path to entry to the Super League Championship Series.
“Our Championship Series has 25 of the best men and 25 of the best women racing in events around the world for large prize money and series money,” says Super League Triathlon chairman Chris McCormack. “We wanted to create a system to guarantee an influx of new talent through relegation and promotion into the series in a true league structure, and ensure we have the best athletes racing the Championship Series.”
At the end of each season of the Championship Series, the top ten male and female athletes will receive a contract for the following year with all expenses paid to compete in Championship Series events. The remaining 15 athletes will be relegated to the Qualifier Series if they wish to earn a contract for the following year.
The Super League Qualifier Series offers a total of ten (10) contracts and five (5) wildcard spots to compete in the Super League Championship Series for the following year.
“Super League Penticton will be one of those qualifying events that will allow these athletes and other professionals the straight-line, non-federation selected qualifying process into the following year’s Championship series,” reveals McCormack.
The Super League Penticton Qualifier will offer a small prize purse set around the same payout structure as the Championship Series, such as incentives for stage wins and primes. Additionally, the top four male and female athletes in Penticton will earn their golden ticket into next year’s Championship Series. The contract gives them the ability to pick their racing number, a full media training and visual content piece set around them, an attractive and transparent series contract fee, and all expenses paid to race the Championship Series among the best athletes in the world.
“The qualification process will involve multiple days of racing in the same formats as our Championship Series, on tight circuits with draft-legal racing,” McCormack adds. Depending on the professional start field size and given the tight and technical courses, athletes will be eliminated on a day-by-day basis.
Only professional or elite athletes with racing licenses from their national federation are eligible for entry into the Qualifier Series. If there is no federation-led licensing program in their nation they must contact Super League Triathlon directly for assessment of eligibility.
Age-group athletes will also have opportunity to race the same distances over race weekend in a separate category. More details about age-group racing will be revealed over the next few weeks.
Promotion and relegation between the Championship Series and the Qualifier Series will ensure an ever-changing roster of Championship Series athletes, fostering a consistently high level of competitiveness. McCormack relishes the thought of seeing a new generation of athletes emerge to challenge the current superstars.
“We’re looking forward to announcing more venues in the near future and continue to build out our vision,” concludes McCormack. “I personally can’t wait to see who surfaces on top at Penticton to join our Championship Series.”
