An 11-time IRONMAN Champion appointed to the Professional Triathletes Organisation
The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has appointed 11-time IRONMAN Champion and Collins Cup Team International Captain, Lisa Bentley to the PTO Board.
Bentley raced for 20 years as a professional triathlete winning 11 IRONMAN races and 11 IRONMAN 70.3 races. She posted several top five finishes at the IRONMAN World Championships, represented Canada on multiple national teams and at the 1995 Pan American Games, and was ranked top 5 in the world for a decade.
This appointment comes hot-on-the-heels of the recent Board appointment of Peter Hutton, Director of Sports Partnerships at Meta.
Charles Adamo, Executive Chairman of the PTO said “Lisa was one the first advisors we reached out to when we began the journey of establishing the PTO. She was very generous with her time and saw the vision when most thought it was a pipedream. She not only brings a wealth of experience from her life at a professional triathlete, but she will also be able to provide valuable insights in helping PTO Professionals navigate successful transitions once their racing careers have ended”.
Bentley raced for 20 years as a professional triathlete winning 11 IRONMAN races and 11 IRONMAN 70.3 races. She posted several top five finishes at the IRONMAN World Championships, represented Canada on multiple national teams and at the 1995 Pan American Games, and was ranked top 5 in the world for a decade.
Bentley chronicles her path in her book ‘An Unlikely Champion’ from “no-talent” high school runner to champion triathlete and her transition from hiding her cystic fibrosis to seeing it as a gift that enables her to bring hope to others and meaning to her own career greater than any found on a racecourse.
Lisa Bentley said “It is an honour to be able to serve as a PTO Board Member. It is fantastic for PTO professionals after so many years to finally have an organisation of their own so that collectively, they can support the sport…and look forward to working with the other board members to contribute to the vision of the PTO as we seek to support and work with all the stakeholders in the triathlon community and continue to grow an organisation that is proving to be a model for professional sport.”
Since retiring from professional sport, Bentley has seen triathlon from multiple angles. She has organized races across Canada, managed sponsorships for IRONMAN, coordinated sponsorship for professional athletes and coached both professional and amateur athletes.
In addition to these business endeavours, she is an inspirational speaker, authored her first book, ‘An Unlikely Champion’, worked as a television commentator for CBC television at the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games and shared the captaincy of Team Internationals at the inaugural Collins Cup with fellow Canadian, Simon Whitfield. She was inducted the Triathlon Canada Hall of Fame in 2014.
