Singapore to be part of T100 Triathlon World Tour till 2028

SINGAPORE – Having grown from strength to strength since its inaugural edition here in 2023, the Singapore leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour will be extended to 2028, the organisers have announced.

The T100 world tour, which is organised by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), sees triathletes compete in a gruelling race comprising a 2km swim, 80km bike ride and 18km run – which add up to 100km – nearly double the Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run).

PTO chief executive Sam Renouf told the media: “We are thrilled to be back and what I hope will be forever.

“The model of the PTO and the T100 is to find great hosts that want to host these events in the long term, because we don’t believe in the travelling circus model of sport, where you have a major event that comes and it causes a great big fuss, and it’s fantastic for the sport, but then it disappears.

“Everyone’s very focused on building legacy, to us, legacy is continuing year on year, and so we’re thrilled to have been here as long as we have, and hope that there’s going to be many, many years to come.

“We perhaps didn’t realise quite how unique Singapore’s topography was to allow us to do that, because I’ve just been all around Asia working on other locations we’re going to go to, and the ability to be right in the middle (of the city) and have access to clean water is really unique.”

The 2026 Singapore leg featured the men’s pro race on April 25 which saw New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde retaining his title at Marina Bay, followed by amateur races on April 26.

Unlike past seasons when each stop hosted men and women’s pro races, this term’s calendar has four race weekends for each gender.

Only the season finale in Qatar in December will feature the men and women’s pro races.

There is also increased prize money with each T100 race in 2026 offering a US$275,000 (S$351,000) prize fund – more than double that for 2025 – with the top-three finishers taking home US$50,000, US$40,000 and US$30,000 respectively.

The PTO is working with governing body World Triathlon to introduce a new Triathlon World Tour. The Olympic distance will be renamed T50 and launched in 2027.

The new world tour will consist of the current T100 world championship series, a new T50 world championship and a Challenger Series – which serves as a global feeder system offering multiple distances.

Renouf said: “For each event, we’ll only have one pro race… with a whole lot of feeder events that go underneath, which we are calling Challenger, just to be like tennis.

“So (we will see) what’s important for the city… Maybe it’s more important (for some) to have less road closures, because there isn’t the ability to go and shut roads to the extent we have. For others, there might be the ability to do a longer distance, which attracts more tourism.

“Between us, World Triathlon as our key partner, and the hosts, that’s how we decide what will go where.”

World Triathlon president Antonio Arimany is hoping that T100 can be part of the Olympics in the “next few years”.

He said: “We are trying to have the T100 to be promoted within the Olympic movement and we see Singapore with the possibility to not only host the T100, but also to host the new events on the Triathlon World Tour.”

The Spaniard added that they are also exploring tie-ups with the Ironman Group, known for endurance events such as its Ironman 70.3 race which comprises a 1.9km open-water swim, a 90km bike ride and 21.1km run.

“As the governing body of the sport, we are welcoming everyone,” he added.

“We are in conversations with Ironman to see how we can collaborate together.

“We need to develop the T100 series of events and create a real popular triathlon event that has important commercial value, and with that, we will be able to offer something important to the International Olympic Committee.”

The plan to introduce the T100 distance to the quadrennial Games is welcomed by top triathletes.

Wilde, who won a silver in men’s triathlon at Paris 2024 and bronze at Tokyo 2020, said: “I think it would be fantastic.

“I told myself that the LA 2028 Olympics would be my last Olympics… But if T100 heads to Brisbane in 2032, I’ll for sure be there.”

Englishman Samuel Dickinson, who finished second to Wilde on April 25, added: “I’m a sucker for the Olympics, any chance to get another medal in triathlon, I’ll be all for it.”