TIME IS MONEY… BUT IT SHOULDN’T BE
Debate over whether Kristian Blummenfelt’s Ironman world record should stand underlines why triathlon’s better when it’s just about who crosses the line first
Cutting through the spin of tri to address the issues that matter, Tim is a sports journalist who has written extensively on triathlon for the national press.
If ever there was a reminder needed that professional triathlon was not really about times but finishing positions, then the latest brouhaha over Kristian Blummenfelt’s 7:21:12 finish in Ironman Cozumel in November was it.
For those unaware, the Norwegian’s phenomenal debut was not just the fastest Ironman of all time, but also the fastest iron-distance triathlon ever, beating both Jan Frodeno’s marks from Challenge Roth in 2016 and, if you acknowledge it, this summer’s Tri Battle Royale.
Rumbles were afoot when Ironman’s media channels dragged their feet over acknowledging the historic feat. The 39min swim certainly raised a few eyebrows. As the Olympic champion, Blummenfelt is no slouch in the water, but swimming 62secs per 100m for 3.8km looked a little out of his comfort zone.
Eventually, Ironman credited it and all seemed well, until an eagle-eyed Kevin Mackinnon from Triathlon Canada spotted that the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) had removed Blummenfelt’s mark from its ‘fastest times’ page. The swim was, as most appreciated at the time, current-assisted, but the ensuing backlash on social media pointed out that plenty of other iron-distance times are questionable, and who were the PTO to play judge and jury over what should stand anyway? Given the PTO’s mission is all about furthering the profile of the pros, it also wasn’t great optics that they appeared to be deriding the performance of one of their greatest assets. So, the PTO put out a lengthy press release, saying “this sport is too bloody difficult and our PTO Professionals race too bloody hard to have any performance diminished by quibbling over distance discrepancies or arguments over currents.” And then it scrapped its fastest times page altogether.
In its defence, the PTO stated its fastest times page was purely informational and Blummenfelt’s wasn’t the first performance they’d left off due to course discrepancies. But it’s also hard to think they’ve not made a rod for their own backs here because the entire PTO rankings system – of which rests $3.5 million a year if you include Collins Cup qualification and year-end payout – is based entirely on finishing times NOT finishing positions.
The PTO has used the debate to push the cause that races shouldn’t be compared by finish times but by their own system, which grades performances against Adjusted Ideal Times through a proprietary algorithm that takes into account course conditions. As such, it has Jan Frodeno occupying the top four spots with Blummenfelt’s Cozumel time in ninth. For the women, Chrissie Wellington’s 2010 Roth victory (not her 2011 world record) tops the list.
The PTO system is innovative, but convincing fans that slower times on the same course are better performances won’t wash. It’s time they accepted that you can’t rank triathletes by tinkering with adjusted ideal times. If you want people to buy into the sport, it needs to be simpler. It needs to be about that novel concept of who takes the tape first.
“Rumbles were afoot when Ironman dragged their feet over recognising the feat”