Last Weekend Now: The PTO’s First Full Production in the U.S., Super League Malibu, and More
This article originally appeared on Triathlete
The two newest players in the pro triathlon game put on marquee events in the U.S. over the weekend, with the debut of the PTO U.S. Open somewhere outside of Dallas and Super League returning to one of triathlon's swankiest venues in Malibu. Over in Europe, a surprise DQ took away a win in Germany, and Ironman Italy Emilia-Romagna somehow took place after torrential storms devastated the region.
Chartier and Gentle Bag $100K in Dallas Heat
Collin Chartier is having himself a month. The 28-year-old American is currently ranked #28 in the PTO World Rankings, but that will soon change after taking the biggest win of his career. It comes just a few weeks after what was previously the biggest win of his career at Ironman Mont-Tremblant.
With the heat index soaring into triple digits on Sunday, Chartier reeled in fellow American Sam Long, who managed to be last out of the water and third off the bike. That's ridiculously hard to do against a field that included nearly all of the top long-distance triathletes in the world except the Norwegians. (There were two Norwegians racing, just not those two Norwegians.)
RELATED: PTO U.S. Open Results: American Collin Chartier Shocks Field For Win In Dallas
Long took the lead early in the run and appeared to be on the way to the biggest payday of his career, but Chartier and Denmark's Magnus Ditlev handled the heat just a bit better. Chartier finished 40 seconds clear of Ditlev for the win, with Long just 10 seconds behind the Dane to take a bittersweet third. Chartier now heads into his first race in Kona in terrific form--and clearly ready for the heat.
RELATED: Remember the Name: Collin Chartier
If I buried the lede, it's only because this is a U.S.-based publication, and I could risk deportation to a better place if I didn't start with the surprise American winner. The big story of the weekend is that Ashleigh Gentle straight up kicked the crap out of one of the best fields we've seen in a very long time. She ran six minutes faster than any other woman in the top 10 and eight minutes better than runner-up Taylor Knibb--who had the race won were it not for the best run performance we've seen all season.
Gentle's 1:04:59 run split over 18K (11.2 miles) was four minutes faster than Lionel Sanders ran on the same course the following day. (Sanders finished 21st). She's currently ranked number six in the world, and nobody knows quite how the algorithm works, but a performance like this should catapult her very near the top. She's arguably had the best season of any woman in the world, with wins at Clash Miami, the PTO Canadian Open, and now the U.S. Open. Since moving on from draft-legal racing, she's found her stride at this new, 100K distance, and it's making her triathlon rich.
RELATED: PTO U.S. Open Results: Ashleigh Gentle Wins A (Sweaty) Nail-Biter In Dallas
Knibb was the only woman able to swim with Lucy Charles-Barclay, and she then rode four minutes faster than the Brit (who had a slew of bike issues). Knibb ended the day just over a minute behind Gentle, which is a bit of a win for the young, American phenom that has had a less-than-phenomenal season due to injury. (She did win 70.3 Oceanside.) Charles-Barclay was another two minutes back, in third.
I only caught a bit of the live coverage for the women's race, because the men's race was up against NFL football on Sunday, which is a great way to ensure Americans don't watch. The broadcast was fine, but nothing really improved from previous PTO productions. There weren't many live metrics; we didn't see a lot of athletes moving through the field; watching Gentle pick off each of the eight women she passed on the run would've been fun, especially if we could see their paces (or maybe heart rate!) live on screen.
But seriously, if the goal is to bring in new audiences to a live event or live broadcast, pitting it against football is a terrible idea. I don't watch college football because I think watching amateur sports is absurd, but I realize a huge percentage of Americans do. And, like a normal American, I spent every second of my Sunday afternoons in the fall watching NFL football and would never consider doing anything else. If it's a big ask for me to watch a triathlon, then you're never going to bring in a fresh audience. Don't try to compete with football: you'll never win.
RELATED: Can Triathlon Ever Be a Spectator Sport?
Video Highlights: PTO U.S. Open
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