On the way to the $800,000 Grand Final in September, it came down to the new opening match of the Supertri Pro Series, where German Tim Hellwig and American Gwen Jorgensen showed their dominance.
(Image: Supertree)
Updated on May 25, 2026 at 04:52 PM
The first race of the newly reformed Supertri Pro Series featured a return to the sprint distance format and it was Comprised largely of American athletes. However, it was Germany’s Tim Helwig who conquered the men’s competition after a bike split from American Seth Ryder, while American Gwen Jorgensen comfortably outperformed the women’s competition with a time of 16:11 over the 5km to win by more than 20 seconds.
In the men’s race, Olympians Seth Ryder (USA) and Tim Hellwig (GER) created a breakaway on the bike despite the large front pack entering T1 after a unique deep-water start – unusual for a short course race. Helwig explained afterwards that the bike leg had been “energetic” with Ryder, and he was thrilled to run the 5k in 14:45, earning him an impressive victory amid his journey back to full form after knee surgery last year.
Aurelien Jim (France) was close behind, taking second place in 14:32, as he bid for a qualifying spot for the Grand Final. There was a battle between the Americans in the rearview mirror, with Ryder conceding the podium to fellow American Matthew McGoey (USA), who had the best result of his career to take third place despite receiving a 10-second T1 penalty, reportedly incurred after his bike was checked late due to a pre-race tire puncture.
On the women’s side, Gwen Jorgensen (USA) started out of the water in third place, but after the round, there was still work to do, as she exited T2 among a group of hungry young athletes hoping to secure a place in the series final. However, it is not surprising that, in a relatively inexperienced field, the 40-year-old Rio gold medalist showed the speed she has on the run, breaking away early to win her first race in more than a year.
Behind her, Eleanor Beveridge (USA) and Zuzana Mikhalikova (Indonesia) achieved the highlight of the day by finishing a thrilling sprint that required a double check of the official timing mats. Beveridge edged out Michaliková by just 0.23 seconds to take second place, and because Michaliková had already qualified for the Grand Final, Joy Gill (USA) secured the final Jersey qualifying spot.
In defining the vision of this newly revamped series in Share LinkedInMichael Dolst, CEO of Supertri, noted the fragmented nature of professional triathlon and said the streamlined structure centered around one large championship event gives fans the best opportunity to see the best athletes in the sport go head-to-head in a unique format. “…We made a deliberate choice: to simplify and build for sustainability first. For our collegiately engaged professionals and athletes.”
For this reason, the prize money was significantly low for this and the remaining two qualifying races (just $17,500 per event), with athletes vying to qualify for the real prize – the lucrative prize purse of $800,000 in the Grand Final. This will be the largest single-day purse in the sport, surpassing the $750,000 IRONMAN World Championship purse.
Athletes from each race compete for the top three qualifying places, while members of Supertri’s “central roster” – athletes contracted with the organization and, According to Dolst“those who commit to being authentically present and accessible within the Supertri community” are awarded automatic entries. Places are also available for the Olympic, WTCS, Ironman 70.3, T100 and Supertri World Championship champions.
The recently announced automatically qualifying field for the final on September 9 in Jersey is eye-catching: it includes Paris Olympic gold medalists Alex Yee (GBR) and Cassandre Beaugrand (France), along with Matt Hauser (Australia), Georgia Taylor-Brown (Great Britain), Songor Lehmann (Honnia), Jeanne Leher (Luxembourg) and Jolene Vermeulen (Belgium).
There is only a little time before the next functions are on view, as the next leg of the series heads to Blenheim Palace in the UK on June 6, where a much larger field of 65 men and women is set to begin. Notable additions include American Chase McQueen (USA) and Dutch athlete Mitch Kolkman (Netherlands), while the women’s field features state-of-the-art Gold Coast T100 Runner-up Jessica Fullagar (Great Britain) and Belgian Julienne Vermeulen.
At the same time as this event takes place, keep an eye out for three-time Olympic medalist Johnny Brownlee (GBR), as he will be doing a huge job.”Personal challenge“Over the weekend. Brownlee will attempt to complete 10 triathlons in 48 hours – totaling around 7.5km of swimming, 200km of cycling and 50km of running.
