More money than ever was up for grabs in triathlon in 2026 – but which athletes took home the bulk of it?
Four women and four men earned over $300,000 in prizemoney alone during the course of the campaign and the two at the top of the respective lists – Kate Waugh and Hayden Wilde – banked the vast majority of their cash after moving up in distance following a 2024 where the Olympic Games in Paris had been their main focus.
They were among many athletes to step up in the first year of the new Olympic cycle – and make an instant impression.
Waugh and Wilde landed the overall T100 titles and the next two in the list – Kat Matthews and Kristian Blummenfelt – weren’t far behind after pocketing $200,000 each for finishing first in the IRONMAN Pro Series.
Here’s the prizemoney breakdown from the four most lucrative competitions in swim, bike and run in 2025…
Short course: WTCS v Supertri
For the first time, the Supertri prizemoney payouts were much harder to quantify accurately in 2025.
That’s because the new franchise team structure came fully into play, with the teams themselves contracting their athletes and agreeing payment terms with them for the team prize pool cash.
And that was the most significant part of the prizemoney – Podium Racing finished first at the end of the season and received $350,000, Crown Racing in second collected $250,000, Brownlee Racing $150,000 for third and Stars & Stripes $100,000 for fourth.
The top five in the individual rankings at the end of the season for men and women received from $50,000 down to $10,000 while the winners of the swim, bike and run Leagues picked up $3,000 and there was also cash up for grabs on each race weekend.
But that still means around two thirds of the prizemoney came from that $850,000 team purse.
However the one thing we can propose is that Podium’s Jeanne Lehair was surely the biggest earner. She raced all four events, winning three of them and the overall title. And not only did Podium pick up the bumper $350,000 team prize but she was also their ‘team captain’ throughout the campaign.
We still can’t say for certain whether her earnings exceeded those at the top of the tree in the World Triathlon Championship Series, which are in the tables below.
Matt Hauser won the men’s WTCS title with a perfect score and was rewarded with $190,650 in prize money while Lisa Tertsch defied the odds when she scooped the women’s crown with a brilliant victory in the finale in Wollonging for a payout of $173,325.
| Top 5 men | Abu Dhabi | Yokohama | Alghero | Hamburg | French Riviera | Karlovy Vary | Weihai | Wollongong | Overall bonus | Total WTCS | Share of Mixed Relay prize purses unless stated otherwise | Total (USD) |
| Matt Hauser | 12,000 | 19,000 | 12,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 3,400 | 30,000 | 70,000 | 184,400 | 6,250 | 190,650 | |
| Miguel Hidalgo | 3,000 | 8,000 | 19,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 40,000 | 108,000 | 108,000 | ||
| Vasco Vilaca | 8,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 9,800 | 26,000 | 79,800 | 79,800 | ||||
| Henry Graf | 6,000 | 4,900 | 3,400 | 19,000 | 12,000 | 5,200 | 20,000 | 70,500 | 8,125 | 78,625 | ||
| David Cantero | 3,200 | 4,100 | 3,400 | 3,000 | 4,100 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 52,800 | 18,000 from World Cups | 70,800 | ||
| Top 5 women | Abu Dhabi | Yokohama | Alghero | Hamburg | French Riviera | Karlovy Vary | Weihai | Wollongong | Overall bonus | Total WTCS | Share of Mixed Relay prize purses unless stated otherwise | Total (USD) |
| Lisa Tertsch | 19,000 | 8,000 | 4,100 | 3,200 | 2,400 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 | 156,700 | 16,625 (MR plus WC) | 173,325 |
| Leonie Periault | 6,000 | 1,000 | 4,900 | 19,000 | 8,000 | 4,900 | 12,000 | 40,000 | 95,800 | 5,000 | 100,800 | |
| Beth Potter | 12,000 | 3,400 | 8,000 | 4,900 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 2,400 | 26,000 | 94,700 | 94,700 | ||
| Taylor Spivey | 2,400 | 3,200 | 3,000 | 3,700 | 12,000 | 6,000 | 6,400 | 20,000 | 56,700 | 3,500 | 60,200 | |
| Bianca Seregni | 3,400 | 12,000 | 1,200 | 3,200 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 54,800 | 2,625 | 57,425 |
There was much less WTCS / Supertri crossover than in recent years but some athletes did combine the two successfully – Leonie Periault was runner-up in both competitions (and took a share of that $350,000 Podium Racing team prize) for example, while Vasco Vilaca was third in WTCS and second in Supertri.
And as we’re about to move onto middle / long distance racing, now is the time to point out that the two biggest earners of 2025 – Waugh and Wilde – also bagged some WTCS prizemoney.
Wilde won £19,000 for starting the season with victory in Abu Dhabi and nudged that up to $23,600 as he added another couple of races to his busy schedule following that amazing comeback from injury. He also pocketed $2,700 from the bonus pool (for 23rd overall) – so $26,300 in total from short course.
Waugh meanwhile collected $9,000 on the WTCS circuit (including $1,900 for 31st on the overall standings).
Longer course: T100 vs IRONMAN Pro Series
Given that we’ve just mentioned them, let’s start with T100 overall winners Waugh and Wilde.
They would have ended 2025 as the biggest female / male earners in triathlon in terms of prizemoney on their T100 exploits alone.
Here’s how the top five in the T100 standings looked.
| Athlete | T100 race prizemoney | T100 bonus pool | Total (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kate Waugh | 139,000 | 200,000 | 339,000 |
| Julie Derron | 94,000 | 170,000 | 264,000 |
| Lucy Charles-Barclay | 82,500 | 150,000 | 232,500 |
| Ashleigh Gentle | 88,500 | 120,000 | 208,500 |
| Jess Learmonth | 63,000 | 110,000 | 173,000 |
| Athlete | T100 race prizemoney | T100 bonus pool | Total (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Wilde | 156,000 | 200,000 | 356,000 |
| Mika Noodt | 92,500 | 170,000 | 262,500 |
| Jell Geens | 96,000 | 150,000 | 246,000 |
| Morgan Pearson | 63,000 | 120,000 | 183,000 |
| Rico Bogen | 68,000 | 110,000 | 178,000 |
And in IRONMAN Pro Series terms, here’s the equivalent:
| Athlete | IM race prizemoney | Pro Series bonus pool | Total (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kat Matthews | 125,000 | 200,000 | 325,000 |
| Solveig Løvseth | 177,250 | 130,000 | 307,250 |
| Lisa Perterer | 64,000 | 85,000 | 149,000 |
| Jackie Hering | 40,250 | 70,000 | 110,250 |
| Lucy Charles-Barclay | 85,500 | 5,000 | 90,500 |
| Athlete | IM race prizemoney | Pro Series bonus pool | Total (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristian Blummenfelt | 153,500 | 200,000 | 353,500 |
| Casper Stornes | 177,500 | 130,000 | 307,500 |
| Gustav Iden | 77,250 | 50,000 | 127,250 |
| Kristian Hogenhaug | 36,500 | 85,000 | 121,500 |
| Nick Thompson | 41,750 | 70,000 | 111,750 |
As we saw in short course there was much more limited crossover in 2025 between the Pro Series and the T100.
But there were notable exceptions, with 70.3 World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay appearing in both tables and Jelle Geens, who won the men’s 70.3 Worlds, only just missing out on the double.
But when everything is added up it is Hayden Wilde who topped the overall earnings in 2025 on $382,300, quite an accomplishment given he spent more than three months recovering from what could have been career-threatening injuries.
Kristian Blummenfelt is second – in both terms of the men and overall – on $353,500.
And third overall and top of the tree for the women is Kate Waugh on $348,000.
Looking ahead
Two big differences in 2025 in terms of prize money was the fact that no athlete was in the upper reaches of the standings in both the T100 and Pro Series, unlike 2024 when Kat Matthews netted over $500,000 in combined earnings.
And there was no Challenge bonus pool for athletes to chase, though the prizemoney at their biggest race – Challenge Roth – did double, with the respective winners taking home $30,000 each.
In terms of trends, 2024 saw a huge leap in overall prizemoney thanks to the establishment of the T100 and IRONMAN’s response with the Pro Series.
However in 2025 the growth was way more modest, in fact it was almost a plateau.
And going into 2026 the overall figure will very likely dip – there are effectively almost half the T100 races (and no contractual payments) while Supertri are also taking a different approach to their pro events. However both cases are complex so it will only be later this year that we know the exact figures.
Of course none of this takes into account sponsorship deals and bonuses as well as various other aspects but hopefully it gives a clear idea of the top earners.
And finally, kudos to Georgia Taylor-Brown who in what she termed a “gap year” raced no fewer than 22 times in various formats and racked up over $200,000 in prizemoney chiefly through T100 and Supertri!
