PTO World Rankings: Iden cements top spot, Jackson a mover

Gustav Iden cemented top spot in in the PTO World Rankings for men with that sensational victory at IRONMAN Florida last Saturday.

The Norwegian extended his lead over Jan Frodeno at the top of the standings with a brilliant debut performance over the full distance.

Iden clocked 7:42:56 per the PTO at Panama City Beach, that despite challenging swim conditions. He closed the show with a staggering 2:34:51 marathon.

As a result of his win, Iden amassed 107.33 points, which raised his rankings score overall to 109.62 atop the current list.

Frodeno, who missed out on the chance to regain top spot when IRONMAN California was cancelled at the 11th hour last month, remains second on 102.82.

One man on the move in the latest rankings update is Lionel Sanders – with the Canadian going up from #6 to #3 on the back of his fine second to Iden in Florida. His time of 7:48:49 netted him 98.96 points to raise his overall score to 99.50. That was good enough to move above previous third-placed man Sam Long.

That three-place rise for Lionel, if it sticks to year end, would be worth an extra $30,000 to him in the PTO’s Race For The Rankings (more on that later ) – $80,000 instead of $50,000 as a bonus.

The main changes in the women’s rankings update also come as a result of IRONMAN Florida.

Race winner Heather Jackson moves up from #17 to #13 on the back of a fine victory, while Skye Moench is up a spot from #8 to #7 after an excellent second place.

The only change in either men’s or women’s top 20 on the back of last weekend’s races see Carrie Lester move above Tamara Jewett into #17 on the back of her third at IRONMAN Cozumel on Sunday.

How do the PTO Rankings work?

This is not just about kudos – the athletes are fighting it out for a bonus pool worth a cool $2million in the ‘Race For The Rankings’. This will be dished out based on rankings at the end of 2021.

Each athlete has a points total which is an average of their three best races over a 13-month period – starting December 1, 2020 and ending December 31, 2021. This is where Frodeno loses out currently with his 102.82 overall score being weighed down by his 88.10 from Challenge Gran Canaria.

Without becoming too technical and explaining the algorithm in detail, an athlete’s score for a single race is based around their time – and not finishing position. The base is 100 points and the variance below or above depends on their time compared to what the PTO calls the ‘Ideal Time’ for that specific race.

As for which races are points-eligible, within reason it brings in any non-drafting race which has at least a minimum professional prize pool and is greater than Olympic distance.