Photo: @sean.beale
By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwi
Kyle Smith and Rebecca Clarke have been handed precious wildcards to join contracted Kiwi Amelia Watkinson in star-studded fields for the second leg of the new T100 Triathlon World Tour in Singapore.
Watkinson, one of 20 females contracted to the PTO-World Triathlon sanctioned circuit, will make her season bow at Marina Bay on April 14 after bypassing the T100 launch in Miami earlier this month.
It’s the continuation of a busy season for the Sunshine Coast-based Kiwi with contracted athletes required to race a minimum of five of the seven regular season T100 events plus the Grand Final at a Middle East venue yet to be unveiled. An athlete’s top three results, plus their finishing position in the Grand Final, count towards the overall title which will see the men’s and women’s champions scoop US$210,000 from the US$2 million bonus prize pool.
Having started the year with 5th place at Ironman NZ in Taupo earlier this month, Watkinson is currently rated the highest of the Kiwi women in the PTO rankings at 18th.
The US$250,000 prize purse T100 Singapore will be Smith’s first PTO start since finishing 9th and 24th at the 2022 Canadian and US Open’s respectively. The Taupo 25-year-old, the PTO No.49, has been awarded a wildcard on the back of an impressive spell which saw him win Ironman 70.3 Taupo in December and Challenge Wanaka in mid-February.
He’ll go into Singapore bubbling with confidence, as noted in a recent social media post, accompanied by another quality Sean Beale pic: “As Meatloaf said ‘2 out of 3 ain’t bad’. Unless you want to win a triathlon race then you can’t have a weak discipline. I’d say I’m at my lifetime best across all 3 disciplines individually at the moment. I’ve been putting lots of work into my running especially and it’s coming along quite all right. I’m looking forward to showcasing on a race course soon. If not then I’ll try and beat @magnuselbaekditlev for YouTube bike supremacy 😉.”
For Clarke, the PTO women’s No.39, it’s a chance to eclipse her 13th placing in the PTO Asian Open in Singapore last August in what will be a first race since amicably splitting from long-term coach Rob Dallimore.
Like Smith, Clarke will be desperate to make the most of the wildcard in the hope of securing future starts in the lucrative T100 circuit which also visits San Francisco (June 8-9), London (July 27-28), Ibiza (September 28-29), Las Vegas (October 19-20) and Dubai (November 16-17).
The men’s field for Singapore features 15 of the world’s top 20 ranked PTO triathletes including Danish world No.2 Magnus Ditlev who won in Miami.
Reigning Ironman World Champion Sam Laidlow will be out to beat his 9th place at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The other Singapore wildcards have been awarded to sometimes Tauranga resident and Spanish superstar Javier Gomez, Germany’s Mika Noodt and Pole Kacper Stepniak.
The mouth-watering women’s field is headlined by the return from injury of Aussie superstar Ashleigh Gentle, freshly minted Ironman NZ champion Chelsea Sodaro and 2023 Taupo winner Els Visser.
Miami winner India Lee is back alongside fellow Brit and reigning Ironman World Champion Lucy Charles Barclay. Watkinson is seeded 7th while Clarke is 17th and a wildecard alongside Aussies Ellie Salthouse and Radka Kahlefeldt.
T100 Singapore 2024 – Men’s Field
1. Magnus Ditlev (DEN)
2. Jason West (USA)
3. Sam Long (USA)
4. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
5. Rudy Von Berg (USA)
6. Sam Laidlow (FRA)
7. Daniel Baekkegard (DEN)
8. Youri Keulen (NED)
9. Alistair Brownlee (GBR)
10. Leon Chevalier (FRA)
11. Fred Funk (GER)
12. Clement Mignon (FRA)
13. Bradley Weiss (RSA)
14. Aaron Royle (AUS)
15. David McNamee (GBR)
16. Ben Kanute (USA)
17. Kacper Stepniak (POL)
18. Kyle Smith (NZL)
19. Mika Noodt (GER)
20. Javier Gomez (ESP)
T100 Singapore 2024 – Men’s Field
1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
2. Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
3. India Lee (GBR)
4. Chelsea Sodaro (USA)
5. Imogen Simmonds (SUI)
6.Marjolaine Pierre (FRA)
7. Amelia Watkinson (NZL)
8. Lucy Byram (GBR)
9. Jocelyn McCauley (USA)
10. Anne Reischmann (GER)
11. Haley Chura (USA)
12. Ellie Salthouse (AUS)
13. Lotte Wilms (NED)
14. Els Visser (NED)
15. Radka Kahlefeldt (AUS)
16. Kaidi Kivioja (EST)
17. Rebecca Clarke (NZL)
18. Lucy Buckingham (GBR)
19. Anna Bergsten (SWE)
20. Pamella Oliveira (BRA)
T100 Triathlon World Tour 101
• Each contracted athlete must complete a minimum of 5 races plus the Grand Final. Although racing obligations for athletes who’ve qualified and will compete in the Olympics have been reduced.
• Athletes to score 35 points for first place to 1 pt for 20th place at each race
• The Grand Final has increased points to up the ante (55 pts down to 4 pts)
• Each athlete’s best three T100 race scores plus the Grand Final will count towards the the inaugural women’s and men’s T100 World Championship
• $250,000 USD prize fund at each T100, totalling $2,000,000 across the eight races (1st place – $25,000k; 2nd – $16,000; 3rd – $12,000 at each race)
• The series winners following the Grand Final will be crowned T100 Triathlon World Champion and collect $210,000 USD from an additional total prize pool of $2,000,000
