London, UK: Daniela Ryf has been unanimously voted June’s PTO Athlete of the Month, following her record breaking win at Challenge Roth when she set the fastest ever full distance time. She received the maximum 15 points from the media panel and fans who voted, with Magnus Ditlev second on 8 points. 

Challenge Roth was her second win in a busy month of racing for the Swiss star, who is widely considered the GOAT of the sport, having previously beaten Ashleigh Gentle at Ironman 70.3 Switzerland. Her victories also saw her return to the PTO World Ranking top ten in fourth place. 

The monthly accolade is a new initiative introduced by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) to celebrate its members across the year and recognises a female or male PTO athlete based on: outstanding race performances, significant movement up the PTO World Rankings and/or challenges overcome. 

A six-athlete shortlist for June 2023 was pulled together and then voted on by a panel of triathlon media as well as fans.  The shortlist included (in alphabetical order): Denis Chevrot, Braden Currie, Magnus Ditlev, Taylor Knibb, Daniela and Kacper Stepniak.  

The media panel includes: Global Triathlon Network (GTN), Triathlete, Triathlon Magazine & Tri-Mag.de  Each give their 1, 2, 3 based on the shortlist and fans voted during Friday 30 June, 2023, across the PTO’s social channels. Three points are awarded for being voted #1, 2 pts for #2 and 1 pt for #3. The points are then added up to determine the winner. 

Commenting on her win, Daniela said:

“I definitely feel very honored. The fans are so important – they cheer you on and it’s part of why we do it and I feel very motivated by their feedback through my social media channels. I feel very lucky that people appreciate the work I do and the performance I showed.” 

Commenting on the nine days since crossing the line at Challenge Roth, she said:

“Yeah, I tried to enjoy life a bit more than normal. The first few days after the race, obviously it’s always a lot, but I also enjoy when there’s attention. It’s nice to see that people are interested in what you do. I had a few days on Lake Como, which was very nice, and just did nothing and relax, and now I’m back home enjoying my house a bit. I’m back training, but every evening I have some social activities with friends and family, so I’m definitely enjoying it a lot.”

On her rise up the PTO World Rankings and remaining goals for the season, she explained: 

“It will be definitely nice to finish the year as the PTO World number one. I mean you can only influence it in a certain way. You can just try to race as well or as fast as possible and that’s definitely what I have my target on. And, of course, I want to show another good performance this year.”

“Right now, I have two more big goals. There will be the 70.3 Worlds and Kona. So I think being able to show good performances there, I do believe I’ll be able to get some more [PTO] points in and then we’ll see if that’s enough to finish the year as number one.”

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For Further Information

Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]

About the Professional Triathletes Organisation

The PTO is a new body, co-owned by the professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of Triathlon and take it to the next level. Each PTO Open is raced over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run). The PTO European Open on 6 May kicked off the 2023 PTO Tour and is followed by the PTO US Open in Milwaukee on 4-5 August and then the PTO Asian Open in Singapore on 19-20 August. The season will be underpinned by the new PTO World Rankings, helping to create a compelling season-long narrative in the sport for the first time.