After winning her maiden long distance title at IRONMAN Western Australia at the end of last season, Fenella Langridge will continue to chase more success over the full distance in 2024.
The PTO World #18, who also won Challenge London last year, is the latest high profile name to commit to the IRONMAN Pro Series for the upcoming season.
Citing the great atmosphere at IRONMAN events and a chance to race unfamiliar courses in new countries, Langridge was full of excitement for the year ahead in her announcement on YouTube.
“This year is so exciting to be a pro”
Recognising the incredible opportunities on offer to professional long course athletes this year, the Brit highlighted the amazing range of choices before explaining her decision.
“This year is so exciting to be a professional triathlete. There are so many opportunities to race, to race for money, good money that’s almost life changing and all over the world, in really strong and competitive fields.
“We have got the PTO Series, the IRONMAN Series and the Challenge Family Bonus. I had to really think about why I want to race, what motivates me to race, when do I race my best and what I really feel is going to propel me forward over the next few years.”
Langridge shared that whilst it might have been tempting to try her hand at all manner of race distances, she knew deep down that concentrating on one specific area would yield the best results.
“I think for me personally as an athlete, I couldn’t have dipped in and out of the different style of races and perform how I want to. I’m a racer and I want to win at the end of the day.
“If I tried to dip my toe in the PTO races, the Challenge Series and the IRONMAN series, I don’t think I would finish the season happy or satisfied and that’s why I had to choose one thing to direct my energy and drive into.”
“IRONMAN races are better suited to me”
Whilst the 31-year-old took the time to appreciate the great possibilities presented by the PTO, in the end, the decision to race the IRONMAN Pro Series made the most sense.
“That means doing the IRONMAN Series for me. The PTO race series is really exciting and cool and the opportunity to race that would have been really life changing financially, but it’s a decision that we had to make that doing IRONMAN races are better suited to me.
“I’m going to be racing courses I’ve never done before in new places and that style of racing, the atmosphere at IRONMAN races, where you’re racing alongside age-groupers, is tenfold compared to the PTO Series.
Langridge also revealed her early season race plans, with IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and IRONMAN Texas on the cards before a big focus on the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.
“I’m going to start my year here in Oceanside and then from here we are going to go to Texas. I have never raced them before and they’re both challenging courses with really strong atmospheres and crowds at these races. It really excites me and motivates me to get up in the morning and get after it.
“The plan is to go after the series and try and win it, which means racing three IRONMAN events. One of those will definitely be Nice, because it’s just such a cool course and watching the men do it last year was really exciting and I feel the type of racer that I am sets me up really well to target that.”
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