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Record Prize Purse Announced
Australia’s Craig Alexander has confirmed his place on the start line at the 2007 Panthers Ironman Australia Triathlon on April 1 at Port Macquarie. Despite a career in triathlon that spans two decades this will be Alexander’s first Ironman event.
At 33 years old, Alexander is in the prime of his career and is now looking to add another national title to his belt in April.
2006 will go down in the record books and in the heart of Alexander as the best ever in his professional triathlon career, ending the year as the inaugural 70.3 Half Ironman World Championship. The new phenomenon that is Ironman 70.3 (combined event distance in miles – 1.9km swim, 90.1km cycle, 21.1km run) arrived on the world scene last year and proved an instant success. The win automatically qualified Alexander for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, Hawaii and he will use the Australian event as part of his preparation.
Alexander achieved a near perfect record of wins in the US and Australia notching up wins at some of the world’s most prestigious races – St Croix Half Ironman, Boulder Peak Triathlon, 5430 Half Ironman, Chicago Olympic Distance Triathlon and second in the LA International Triathlon and ITU World Long Course Championships.
Craig is a master across sprint (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run), Olympic (1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run) and long distances events, a rare attribute that only a handful of triathlete’s around the world possess. He is a former Australian Sprint Champion and holds a record four Australian Long Course titles.
2007 started on a high for Alexander recently named US Triathlete of the Year by US Triathlete Magazine for the second time in the past three years.
The Australian Ironman Triathlon has a rich history and 2007 will see the 22nd running of this iconic event that continues to attract these amazing athletes and capture the imagination of the sporting public. Not only did the event come of age in 2006 celebrating its 21st anniversary the event is leading the way in event management, in terms of delivering successful outcomes for competitors, sponsors and the local community. It is now recognized globally as a bench mark event.
“We’re delighted that Craig has chosen to make his debut in Ironman at Port Macquarie, he is such a talented athlete and popular on the circuit. His presence is a real coup for the event as it continues to attract the world’s best,” said Dallas O’Brien, IMG Director of Triathlon.
The Panthers Ironman Australia Triathlon is a qualifier for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The race will take place at Westport Park, Port.
Prize Purse Hike For Ironman
IMG, the world’s leading sports, entertainment and media company, today also announced a huge increase in the prize purse for this years Panthers Ironman Australia Triathlon.
A huge cash injection into the prize pool will see the professionals competing for US$60,000, an increase of US$10,000 from 2005.
“The career of an Ironman athlete is an extremely tough one and to a huge extent prize money is their pay packet and we want to be able to reward their efforts as well as attracting the best Ironman athletes in the world to Port Macquarie,” said Dallas O’Brien, IMG Director of Triathlon.
The ‘hike’ in prize money is an indication of the strong position that Ironman is place nationally and internationally
IMG have instigated some ‘winning’ moves over the past few years to secure this outcome for the sport, the most significant decision in moving the Australian Ironman Triathlon from Forster, Tuncurry to Port Macquarie in 2006 after 20 years. The move proved to be one of the best decisions for the sport, competitors, sponsors and community.
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