As the year of thrilling triathlon racing comes to an end, it’s time to look back on the standout performances and epic races of the season.
To commemorate this unforgettable year of racing, the TRI247 team has come together and will give recognition to the athletes and races that kept us all captivated throughout the year with the 2023 TRI247 Triathlon Awards.
In our next piece, we go into detail about the awards categories, lay out our nomination list, and explain the criteria we used to determine the winners.
Triathlete of the Year Award
For our ‘Triathlete of the Year’ award, we’ve divided the category into an award for the best male and an award for the best female triathlete. This award champions the top athlete overall, considering those who excelled in a variety of disciplines throughout the year.
While there were strong cases for some athletes who shone in specific events, like Sam Laidlow at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, we ultimately favored racers who consistently showed their gold-standard talent throughout the season.
Our list of nominees included World Title and PTO Tour race winners, highlighting athletes such as Kristian Blummenfelt and Taylor Knibb, who dazzled in both short and long distance triathlon.
The decision for the male category was a close call with a number of potential Olympic gold medallists for Paris 2024. As for the female category, the list boasted an incredibly versatile group of stars.
Male Triathlete of the Year Nominees – Hayden Wilde, Kristian Blummenfelt, Alex Yee, and Leo Bergere.
Female Triathlete of the Year Nominees – Beth Potter, Anne Haug, Taylor Knibb, and Ashleigh Gentle.
Paratriathlete of the Year Award
Heading to the ‘Paratriathlete of the Year’ award, we’ve once again split the category into male and female nominees.
One of the main challenges in deciding the winner in this category was comparing the achievements of athletes from different classifications, including PTWC Champions and PTS5 racers.
Luckily, we had TRI247 Chief Correspondent and Paratriathlon commentator, John Levison, to help us decide on the winners. Dominance across the season was one of the main criteria for this category.
We also looked forward to Paris 2024, where most of our nominees will be in contention for a Paralympic Gold medal for the first time as their classifications will be included in the Games.
» Read More rnrn
