London, UK: Taylor Knibb’s impressive race and series victories at the Dubai T100 World Championship Final has helped her win this month’s Professional Triathletes Organisation Athlete of the Month award.
The American beat off competition for the monthly award from:
- Georgia Taylor-Brown – who won her first middle distance race at Ironman 70.3 Bahrain.
- Alistair Brownlee – who wrapped up his incredible career with his first ever T100 podium in Dubai.
- Marten Van Riel – who’d made it three wins from four and clinched the T100 Triathlon World Tour title, fighting off Rico Bogen in an epic run battle.
In Knibb’s post race debrief with T100 commentator Jack Kelly, he admitted to not picking her to win in Dubai for the first time this season [he’d gone for Swiss star Julie Derron], but said he would always pick her from now on and that her win was probably the grittiest and toughest performance he’d seen her put in.
“I take no offence from you not picking me to win,” she responded. “I wouldn’t have picked me to win. I messaged Dan [Lorang, her coach] this morning and said ‘I feel rough’. I don’t know how I’m going to walk out on that pontoon. Let alone go and race. I was here in [in UAE] March eight months ago for the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) Abu Dhabi and I was ready to race and I’ve been holding onto that fitness ever since. So I’m shocked by that [win]. But I think the big thing was patience and that is something that’s not a strength of mine. I had to be very patient and listen to how my body was feeling the whole day. It was all heart-rate based and I had to stick to my plan.”
Asked when she realised she’d won the race and the T100 World Championship, she said: “When I got to the finish line.”
Invited to rank where this victory stood in her hierarchy of career wins, Taylor said:
“Well, I think the ones where you fight for it and doubt yourself…That swim was just so long. The whole day was just so long…I’m very grateful and I’m very shocked.”
She also talked about the competition and the extremely gutsy performances from second placed Swiss Julie Derron, third placed Australian Ashleigh Gentle and a flying fourth from Bermudan Flora Duffy; saying: ‘Well we could have a very different conversation a year from now. Everyone’s coming. Someone said Flora had a 1hr 03 min run [which was the fastest of the day by more than one minute]. So she’s coming. There are so many women here, so I just think it’s going to take women’s professional triathlon to a new level. I’m grateful to be a part of it, but I know that everyone’s coming.”
Global Triathlon Network (GTN), Tri-Mag.de, Triathlon Magazine & Triathlete.com make up the panel of triathlon media who voted on their 1, 2, 3 from a four-athlete shortlist, awarding 3 points for #1, 2 pts for #2 and 1 pt for #3. Votes were also counted from online triathlon fans who had their say via the T100 social handles. Taylor received the top vote from all four of the triathlon media judges to receive a winning total of 13 points.
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For Further Information:
Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is the new name for the PTO Tour and has been designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. It is a season-long schedule of T100 races during 2024 that are competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run) and features the world’s best triathletes going head-to-head in Miami (9 March), Singapore (13-14 April), San Francisco (8-9 June), London (27-28 July), Ibiza (28-29 September), Lake Las Vegas (19-20 October) and then the Dubai T100 Triathlon World Championship Final (16-17 November). There have also been racing opportunities for amateurs at all the events, including the new 100km distance at five stages, including: Singapore, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas and Dubai. The global broadcast shows the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters.
