With international expansion plans in the pipeline, TRITON is back in 2023 with racing in Portimão, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal on October 27-29, 2023.
TRITON offers two event formats: a one day traditional triathlon format, and a three-day triathlon format. Taking a similar approach to the Long Course Weekend, the three-day format is not new. TRITON, however, feels that it offers athletes a different way to compete, with a different scoring system
In TRITON’s three-day format (swim on day one, bike on day two and run on day three) all three disciplines have the same weight on the final result. Athletes score points for how they place. The athlete with best score at the end of the three days, wins the competition.
A release from TRITON notes that it was… ‘Born out of the conviction we could offer a great alternative with great value to all stakeholders. For athletes, there are better race formats and more competition options. There is also a better business model for our partners and destinations.’
TRITON adds that it offers better on-course entertainment and engagement for spectators with its looped course race format…
‘If you can see an athlete go by three or more times, it is better than seeing him / her, once at the start and once at the finish. More fan engagement, more family involvement. We saw a need for change and we wanted to introduce those changes. Triathlon has been the same for ever and evolution was need, TRITON is evolution and innovation.’
TRITON is also developing a special indoor / gym competition format. This is positioned as a way to introduce newcomers to the sport. Leveraging gyms as a familiar environment, the indoor races will have event support and a focus on safety.
TRITON is in negotiation to develop a series with large gym chains. This new initiative is intended as a funnel to bring new people to the outdoor sport of triathlon.
At TRITON 1 (one-day format), participants can register for one of three distances, at every race, individually by age group and gender, as well as in a team and, a Mix&match division where athletes have the option to select the distance they want to do, for each discipline. This allows individuals to compete more on their strongest discipline or less in their less favourite.
TRITON 1 race distances:
Swim 1.2k – 2.4k – 3.6k
Bike 30k- 60k – 90k
Run 7k – 14k – 21k
The new scoring system for TRITON 3 (three-day format) is related to where athletes finish in the field. The higher finish position, the less points received. After all three days, athletes with the least points are the winners.
The event organiser adds that… ‘Being ‘just’ a great cyclist or runner, is not enough to win. You have to be a good all-around athlete, aka, triathlete.’
For its business model, TRITON starts with a non-compete clause that prevents events from happening in the same territory (continent) in the same month.
‘The worst that can happen to any race organizer and destination is to hear a new event has just been announced on the same date, directly competing against theirs. TRITON is not a business model based on hefty license fees but rather on creating the best conditions and value for our partners to succeed without having to dispute market share against each other, with races happening in different places at the same time.’
Licensees and destinations can license the event and also license the month. The ultimate goal is to reach 12 destinations (one per month), each with two different race formats (TRITON 1 and TRITON 3), across five continents.
TRITON will then dedicate 25% of its World Final event slots (location TBC(, on a first come, first serve basis to all athletes that have done at least one TRITON event on in a given calendar year.
The company adds that… ‘We believe that first and foremost, everyone is an athlete and everyone can have a bad day, plus, everyone should have an equal opportunity to participate, at least once, in a finals event.’
The first TRITON’s World Final is set to take place in 2025. Further details will be announced in late 2023 together with the 2024 race calendar.
All races in 2024 and 2025 will count as qualifiers for the finals. For the 2024 calendar TRITON still has one slot open to launch a new destination. (It will only allow for three new destinations to enter the series every year).
By 2030, the goal is… ‘30 destinations, 30 one day races with 3 distances, 30 three day races with 3 distances, 5 regional finals, and one World Final for each format and thousands of participants from across the globe.’
