Triathlon’s rich list: How much prize money did the top PROs earn in 2024?

2024 has been quite possibly the busiest year of racing in triathlon history, with the major events series stepping things up a notch on the prize money front to encourage the best of the best to keep turning up on their start lines.

That changing landscape has increased the earning opportunities for the top level PROs. From the IRONMAN Pro Series to the inaugural T100 World Tour, we take a look at who’s got a slice of triathlon’s golden prize money pie this year.

IRONMAN World Champions and Pro Series winners

First let’s head to the world of full M dot racing, where the addition of the IRONMAN Pro Series adding an extra layer of competitivity to the season’s races.

Laura Phillipp – 2024 IRONMAN World Champion

2024 was an incredible year for the newly-crowned IRONMAN World Champion, Laura Philipp. Her results sheet features 5 podiums, and not a single finish out of the top 10. That show of consistency saw her finish 7th in the T100 Triathlon World Tour women’s series standings. And despite not pursuing the IRONMAN Pro Series, Philipp did still manage to just about finish high enough to be in the money in the overall standings.

Here’s how Laura’s season panned out:

• IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia 4^th place: $2,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 2^nd place: $5,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau 1^st place: $5,500
• San Francisco T100 3^rd place: $12,000
• Challenge Roth 2^nd place:  €8,000 prize money plus  €5,000 bonus
• London T100 4^th place: $9,000
• IRONMAN World Championship Nice 1^st place: $125,000
• Lake Las Vegas T100 7^th place: $6,500
• Dubai T100 7^th place: $6,500
• Overall T100 Series bonus (7th place): $50,000
• IRONMAN Pro Series bonus (27th place): $5,000

Total prize money: $240,500 USD*

*note: the Challenge Roth prize money was in Euros, this figure is based on today’s euro-USD conversion rate

Patrick Lange – 2024 IRONMAN World Champion and runner up in the IRONMAN Pro Series

Patrick Lange decided to put a full focus on IRONMAN racing in 2024, turning down the offer of a T100 World Tour contract. And that focus paid off for the German star, who outshone the likes of Magnus Ditlev, Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden to take yet another world title after a ‘brutal’ day in Kona. A performance which saw him make the podium in Germany’s Sports Personality of the Year earlier this month.

It wasn’t all plain-sailing for Lange though, with heartbreak in Roth after an injury sustained during the swim pulled the pin on his full-distance run record attempt. And an up-and-down season which saw BIG performances alternate with finishing outside of the prize money. Despite all that, Lange still did enough when it mattered to finish 2nd overall in the IRONMAN Pro Series. Here are the races Patrick Lange finished in the money for:

• IRONMAN Texas 1st place: $28,000
• IRONMAN Frankfurt 8th place: $3,000
• IRONMAN World Championship Kona 1st place: $125,000
• IRONMAN Pro Series 2nd place: $130,000

Total prize money: $286,000

Kat Matthews – 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series winner, 2nd place IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

Kat Matthews has been outstanding in 2024, performing time and time again when it counted and proving herself to be one of the toughest and most consistent athletes on the PRO circuit. Targeting both the T100 World Tour and the IRONMAN Pro Series might have been a stretch too far for some, but Kat truly took it in her stride by finishing 1st in the Pro Series, 4th in the T100 World Tour and finishing second in both the IRONMAN World Championship and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. A true superstar of the sport, it’s safe to say tri fans will be looking forward to seeing what Kat can achieve in 2025. But for now, here’s how 2024 went for the Brit star:

• IRONMAN Texas 1st place: $28,000
• San Francisco T100 2nd place: $16,000
• IRONMAN Vitoria Gasteiz 1st place: $18,000
• London T100 3rd place: $12,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Tallinn 2nd place: $7,000
• IRONMAN World Championship Nice 2nd place: $65,000
• Ibiza T100 13th place: $2,500
• Dubai T100 5th place: $8,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 2nd place: $45,000
• Overall T100 Series bonus (4th place): $75,000
• IRONMAN Pro Series 1st place: $200,000

Total prize money: $476,500

Gregory Barnaby – IRONMAN Pro Series winner

Gregory Barnaby has shown that consistency pays off in 2024, with 3 podium finishes and a series of top 10s sending him on his way to winning the IRONMAN Pro Series. Most notable are his performances at both the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, finishing 6th and 9th respectively up against stacked fields. Barnaby will be one to watch in 2025.

• IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 3rd: $3,750
• IRONMAN Cairns 8th: $2,500
• London T100 10th: $5,000
• IRONMAN Frankfurt 3rd: $11,000
• IRONMAN World Championship Kona 6th: $18,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Western Australia 1st: $12,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 9th: $7,500
• IRONMAN Pro Series 1st place: $200,000

Total prize money: $259,750

Middle-distance winners – IRONMAN 70.3 and T100 World Champions

Over to the middle-distance now, which is quickly becoming the most competitive distance in triathlon with 70.3 specialists battling it out with short-course speedsters – making for some seriously thrilling racing.

Taylor Knibb – IRONMAN 70.3 and T100 World Champion

Of course, we have to start with Taylor Knibb. The US prodigy might not have had the Paris 2024 Olympics she’d have hoped for, but she certainly dominated over middle distance in 2024 – winning every T100 and 70.3 race she started to become a double world champion in both series. 2025 will be all about who can up their game to match The Knibb Factor. As yet, nobody appears to have an answer.

• WTCS Yokohama 2^nd place $12,000
• WTCS Cagliari 11^th place $2,800
• IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside 1^st place $7500
• San Francisco T100 1^st place $25,000
• Ibiza T100 1^st $25,000
• Vegas T100 1^st $25,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 1st place $75,000
• Overall T100 Series bonus 1st place $210,000
• IRONMAN Pro Series bonus 46th place $5,000

Total prize money: $387,300

Jelle Geens – IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion

Jelle Geens perhaps flew a little under the radar coming into this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, with many expecting the title to be decided by the likes of Hayden Wilde, Kyle Smith and 2023 champion Rico Bogen. But our John Levison rightly highlighted Geens as one to watch in his pre-race predictions. Don’t forget, while the Belgian wasn’t eligible for the T100 grand final, his one appearance in the series saw him take down the near-unbeatable Marten Van Riel. And on the day of 70.3 Worlds, as Wilde began to falter after what had been a stellar performance – Geens was able to storm to the front of the race to take the victory in a scene that must have been agonisingly similar to the Paris Olympic triathlon for the Kiwi great.

• WTCS Yokohama 15th place $2,000
• WTCS Hamburg 4th place $4,900
• WTCS Mixed Relay Hamburg Championships 5 $8,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside 4th place: $3,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 Tallinn 3rd place: $4,250
• IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See 2nd place: $5,000
• Lake Las Vegas T100 1st place: $25,000
• IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 1st place $75,000
• Overall T100 Series bonus (19th place): $15,000
• IRONMAN Pro Series bonus (31st place): $5,000

Total prize money: $147,150

Marten Van Riel – T100 World Champion

Marten Van Riel’s hopes of improving upon his Tokyo 2020 4th-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were dashed after he came home in 22nd. But over the 100km distance, the Belgian has well and truly proven that he’s the ‘riel deal’, his winning streak only disrupted by compatriot Geens in Vegas. After being crowned the inaugural men’s T100 World Champion, Marten nipped over to IRONMAN Cozumel – because how else would you celebrate a big win other than doing your first ever full-distance triathlon!? The race didn’t go according to plan, with a dramatic and unfortunate accident taking him out of contention for the win. But Van Riel still managed to finish 7th on his 140.6 debut, with a 2:39:38 marathon.

• WTCS Yokohama 6^th place: $4,100
• WTCS Cagliari 12th place: $2,600
• San Francisco T100 1st place: $25,000
• Ibiza T100 1st place: $25,000
• Vegas T100 1st place: $16,000
• Dubai T100 1st place: $25,000
• IM Cozumel 7th place: $2,500
• Overall T100 series 1st place: $210,000

Total prize money: $310,200

What about the Olympics and supertri?

It’s a little tricker to tot up the total prize money for the Olympic and supertri champions. The Olympics themselves don’t have prize money. And while supertri publicise their total prize money for the overall series win, the individual prize money per race varies.

Olympic champion Alex Yee would have received $53,000 in prize money from World Triathlon Championship Series races, plus a $70,000 bonus for becoming the overall WTCS World Champion. He’d also have received a share of the $125,000 supertri team prize, and $25,000 for his 4^th place overall supertri finish. But that doesn’t include individual prize money from the supertri races. And you’d hope he’ll have received some bonuses and incentives as a result of his Olympic title!

Likewise, Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand should have picked up $68,000 for her WTCS performances, plus the $70,000 championship bonus. She also finished 3^rd in the supertri overall league, winning $35,000. And because she was part of the overall champions Crown Racing, she’ll have been entitled to a share of the team’s $375,000 winnings.

Triathlon prize money in context

Those annual winnings might sound like a lot, and the last few years definitely has seen earning opportunities for professional triathletes grow. But to put things into context, the winner of the Tour de France gets to take home €500,000 (~$519,000 USD) from the Tour alone. And according to Off the Pitch, the average Premier League football player salary before the 2022 World Cup was $4.7m dollars a year. So there’s still a long way for triathlon to go if it wants to compete with the bigger sports and become a true mainstream spectacle.

It’s also important to remember that PRO triathletes will incur a huge amount of cost travelling all over the world just to get on start lines – with many risking making a significant loss at every race if they don’t finish in the money.