Following the announcement last week of the athletes automatically qualified to represent Teams US, Europe and International at the PTO’s flagship event The Collins Cup, the team captains’ picks have now been confirmed.
The second edition of the event, at the x-bionic sphere sports resort in Bratislava, Slovakia, will be held on August 20th.
- Team US Captains Julie Moss and Dave Scott have confirmed their picks as: Sophie Watts, Sarah True, Jason West and Ben Kanute.
- Team Europe Captains Normann Stadler and Natascha Badmann revealed their picks as: Nicola Spirig, Holly Lawrence, Daniel Bækkegård and Sam Laidlow.
- Team International Captains Erin Baker and Craig Alexander picks are: Flora Duffy, Hayden Wilde, Vittoria Lopes and Aaron Royle.
The captains’ picks join the following automatically qualified athletes, whose qualifications were finalised after the PTO Canadian Open, the first-ever PTO Tour event.
- Team Europe qualified women are: Daniela Ryf, Anne Haug, Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews. The four men are: Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), Gustav Iden (NOR), Patrick Lange (GER) and Magnus Ditlev (DEN).
- Team USA qualified women are: Taylor Knibb, Skye Moench, Chelsea Sodaro and Jackie Hering. The four men are: Matt Hanson, Sam Long, Rudy Von Berg and Chris Leiferman.
- Team Internationals qualified women are: Paula Findlay, Ashleigh Gentle, Tamara Jewett and Ellie Salthouse. The four men are: Lionel Sanders, Braden Currie, Max Neumann and Jackson Laundry.
The Collins Cup was introduced by PTO in 2021. Modelled after golf’s Ryder Cup, it sees teams of European, Internationals and USA athletes pitted against one another.
In 2021, 36 of the world’s top professional triathletes battled it out over a 100km course in 12 individual race matches, each staggered ten minutes apart, with three athletes going head-to-head, one from Team Europe, Internationals and the USA.
With US$1.5 million on the line again this year, ‘the largest purse in the sport’, the racing will be broadcast to a global audience in more than 170 territories.
