Morgan Pearson wins the most DRAMA PACKED race in triathlon history at PTO T100 Dubai

*update from Vince Luis (a pro who also raced)

vincentluistri
A lot of drama happened yesterday - the 3 race leaders doing an extra lap on the bike and the run lap counter being wrong and telling athletes to go to the finish instead of doing the last lap. @t100triathlon actually asked us to vote and decide what would be the best solution, I am not sure I’ve ever seen any other organisation doing so. I believe everyone can make mistakes - athletes and organisers - the most important is to learn from them and do better.

just another reason why triathlon is a JOKE

Unless you're the very best and loaded with sponsors with large performance bonuses, from a money perspective, I agree with you. It's a joke.

I love the sport but hate the perpetual financial disrespect for pros. Obviously these massive mishaps are VERY RARE, or in this case, a complete first likely never to happen again. But this particular race series is the first and only to have contracts and guaranteed salaries (70k/yr.) for contracted athletes (I think it's just 10 or 15 earning this, the other racers are "wild card" slots getting nothing but prize money). Sadly, this is the best triathlon gets money wise... The IM pro series is 200k for the winner ONLY. Then massive drop offs going down the top ten money list.. Most pros chase points and lose money doing so. The Oly track is the same. Chasing rankings to qualify. But even worse prize money there..

I wouldn't blame someone for miscounting laps beyond something four. That's on the race organizers. It's easy when counting in your head over a long period of time (whether counting laps, sheep, or anything else), to lose track and not be sure. You can have 5 or 6 in your head, and then question yourself was that 5 or 6 completed, or 5 or 6 is the next lap? That's on the organizers

Sounds typical for dubai

This series uses a lap counting board. It malfunctioned here. But they all have strava/gps so they are still covered if they relied on the race lap board. I could see the mistake though. At threshold, hot, it adds up. Their Garmins don't lose count though.

PTO and World triathlon are not Dubai based. Dubai did not organize the event.

Hmm, some/many people just use GPS to record, not to refer to constantly. Lap boards being wrong just adds to the confusion if people are looking at both their watch and the board because then you have to decide what to choose what to follow. Once a course is messed up by an organizer, they sometimes have to stick with the mistake, so I'd follow what the on-the-course personnel and signs say.

They are literally looking at it the whole bike. Bike computers are mounted on their stem basically touching their nose when they are tucked, which is 95% of the ride. Pretty easy to reference.

Yup, always follow the race organizers.... who were telling Wilde to both, come in and stop riding while simultaneously blocking the entry to T2. Following race organizers was dissuaded by race organizers. It's strange he did not pause or stop at all. He rolled on by. The course was not dead on correct, plus pros' garmins/strava are NOT synched with the race orgs course distance. They should require a syncing of all tech being used so everyone is on the exact same distance understanding. Like airplanes plotting their starting altitude correctly so they don't later fly into a mountainside for being too low. Wilde's distance show on-board did not match the stated race distance so that played a big factor for him to ride on.

So much went wrong here. Unreal.

Well, some did follow the lap board on the run and it told them to stop a lap short. Pearson counted. Others ignored the correct lap count and chose to follow the malfunctioning lap board to shorten their run.

Pearson is incredibly good, but if anyone doesn't need money, it's him.

But other Pros are screwed. Next year they will stop the guaranteed contracts and the $70,000 salary. Word is this organization will only pay $50,000 to the winners. So starting next year all that guaranteed income is gone poof vanished. It's getting worse for professionals whose fathers are not billionaires.

He should do an interview with Pierce Morgan to add to the confusion.

I haven't heard anyone say the counter malfunctioned on the bike leg. Any sources on that? I do think it malfunctioned on the *run* - this was what Mika Noodt, who was first crowned winner of the event, said. And the second transition wasn't blocked - the pros have a separate transition area from the age groupers, and only the age groupers' transition was closed during the pro area, as it should be.

Every time I do intervals I always question how many that was - and we're talking a relatively short workout. I can't imagine how to focus hours into a race where tons of decisions are being made about nutrition and energy all the time.

It didn't but there wasn't enough by the racers to go on. MVR said there was no bell lap warning, no lap counter, and no marshal or flag to point them into T2. And GPS said 76 rather than 80 so they figured they had more to go. You've only got split seconds to figure this out.