PTO Collins Cup Automatic Qualifiers Announced – Who’s In?
PTO Collins Cup Automatic Qualifiers have been finalised and announced. Eight athletes (four men and four women) have automatically qualified by virtue of being the top four ranked athletes for their respective region in the PTO Collins Cup Standings. Who’s In?
Still to come is an additional two men and two women per team who will be eligible to race as “Captain’s Picks”, selected by the PTO Board members in consultation with the team captains.
Sceptics will question whether commercialism is at the heart of a Commercial Board having the final say on the ‘Captains Picks’ in order to select the most marketable athletes for the various teams. We’d like to think not.
What is the Collin Cup?
The goal of the Collins Cup is to showcase the best triathletes from around the world competing for national pride
The Collins Cup is a team event that pits the USA vs Europe vs the Rest of the World in match-based, long course triathlon racing. The event is modelled on Golf’s Ryder Cup, which brings together individual golfers to compete in a them versus everyone else team format.
Where and when?
August 28th 2021 in Samorin, Slovakia
Course:
A 2km swim, 80km bike, and 18km run course awaits the 36 competitors when they travel to Slovakia in late August and the state-of-the-art x-bionic sphere situated on the banks of the River Danube
Race format:
Each team will consist of 12 individuals – six male and six female. The starting lineups for the 12 individual races will be selected through a draft system.
For example, Race 1 would see Team Europe select the first athlete, Team Internationals the second and Team USA the third. Race 2 would then see Team Internationals select the first athlete, Team USA the second and Team Europe the third. Race 3 would then see Team USA select first, Team Europe second and Team International third.
This process would be repeated four times to fill the entire 12-race card. The process adds a tactical element to the Team Captains decisions – do they race the best athletes against best or do they save their star athletes for easier matchups and better chance of points?
Pick of the Bunch?
The European Team, particularly the women, is stacked and on paper would appear to be invincible. Pundits and commentators alike have Team Europe down as clear favourite for the competition. The question now is can the USA or Team International beat the Europeans?
Prize Money
Whilst the event is about athletes competing for national/regional pride rather than prize money, if would be foolhardy to think that a prize pot of $1.5 million was not a driving factor.
Each athlete will be awarded a portion of the $1.5 million “participation purse” for representing their respective regions. The amount awarded will be based on their Collins Cup Qualifying position offering between $20,000 to $90,000 per athlete for those qualifying to race from the rankings or via a Captain’s Pick.
Breakdown of Prize Money here:
