The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has today announced the ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) awards for elite triathletes at The Collins Cup.
Team Europe member Jan Frodeno has been awarded the Dave Scott Award as the Men’s Most Valuable Player. Team US member Taylor Knibb has been awarded the Erin Baker Award as the Women’s Most Valuable Player.
Collins Cup Men’s MVP: Jan Frodeno – Dave Scott Award
The Olympic Gold Medal winner and five-time World Champion, Frodeno, had the fastest finishing time of the day.
Recounting Frodeno’s performance at The Collins Cup, Team Europe, Captain Normann Stadler said “With some early surprises from the USA women, we needed Jan to step up and stabilise our Team and rack up some bonus points.
“With two kilometres left in his match, Jan was 3 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Sam Appleton and needed to gain another 20 seconds in order to secure an additional half bonus point. To see Jan practically sprint the last two kilometres at the end of a gruelling race to gain Team Europe an added half bonus point just shows what the Collins Cup meant to him and how much he wanted to lead the European Team to victory. It was a stellar performance worthy of the Dave Scott Award for the Men’s Most Valuable Player.”
The Dave Scott Award is named after the six-time IRONMAN World Champion who, PTO notes, ‘truly established the professional status of triathlon.’
Collins Cup Women’s MVP: Taylor Knibb – Erin Baker Award
Young American athlete Taylor Knibb arrived at the Collins Cup as a Captain’s Pick by Team US Captains Karen Smyers and Mark Allen.
Smyers said “The night before the draft match-ups, Mark and I sat down with Taylor and told her that if we had the chance, we wanted to put her against [Daniela] Ryf, and she said she was ready. While she clearly has great respect for the PTO World No. 1 and nine-time World Champion, Taylor has the fearlessness of youth, and she would never back down from the challenge.”
23-year-old Knibb, the Olympic Silver Medal winner in the mixed relay in Tokyo, led from the first swim stroke and shocked the triathlon world with a stunning performance. While Europe’s Ryf and the Internationals’ Teresa Adam had off days, PTO notes that… ‘Knibb left no doubt that she is a force to be reckoned with by having the fastest time of the day by a full three minutes, and the fastest time on the bike, despite using a road bike on a flat, fast and windy course.’
The Erin Baker Award is named after New Zealand’s Erin Baker a nine-time world champion over all distances, from sprint to long-distance.
