Professional Triathletes Organisation Announces Selection Of Dave Scott As The Athleta Emeritus Honouree For Inaugural Collins Cup

January 21, 2020

LONDON, ENGLAND–BOULDER, USA: The Professional Triathletes Organisation today announced that it has selected Dave Scott as the Athleta Emeritus Honouree for the inaugural Collins Cup. The Collins Cup is a Ryder Cup style triathlon event in which teams from the USA, Europe and the Internationals do battle to see who rules the world of triathlon. The Collins Cup is the flagship event for the Professional Triathletes Organisation, an association representing professional triathletes with a mission to celebrate the sport of triathlon.

The PTO has determined that each year the The Collins Cup race will honour an individual who has distinguished themselves in the sport of triathlon by recognising them as the Athleta Emeritus Honouree. For the inaugural Collins Cup, it has been decided that there would be no better person upon whom to bestow this honour than Dave Scott.

Tim O’Donnell, President of the PTO, commented “While we are deeply indebted to all the tremendous triathletes whose blood and sweat over many decades has paved the way for the PTO and The Collins Cup to become a reality, Dave was truly the progenitor of professional triathlon. In 1980, when, in his first IRONMAN® championship race in Hawaii, he cut nearly two hours off the previous record, he established standards of performance that would forever drive all triathletes, amateur and professional, to challenge limits thought impossible.  It is only fitting that the inaugural Collins Cup, the first ever event owned and operated by professional triathletes, pay tribute to Dave.”

It is nearly impossible to list all of Dave Scott’s accomplishments. The six-time IRONMAN® World Champion is known by the nickname “The Man” for his intense training regimens and his unrelenting race performances that created a record number of wins. Dave Scott is the Roger Bannister, Pele, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Jack Nicklaus of triathlon. His performances transcended what was ever thought possible.  On a full distance course, he was the first athlete to go under 11 hours, under 10:30, under 10:00, under 9:30, under 9:00 and under 8:30. He also was the first to go under 3:00 hours for the IRONMAN® marathon, the first under 2:55 and the first under 2:50.  He has spent a lifetime defining triathlon first as an athlete, then as a coach, including coaching European Collins Cup Captain, Chrissie Wellington.

Dave commented, “It is truly an honour to be named by the PTO as the Athleta Emeritus Honouree for the inaugural Collins Cup. I am thrilled to see the PTO come together. It has been 40 years in the making and I am very pleased to see today’s generation of professionals have their own organisation and a voice in the sport.  Given the $2,000,000 prize purse at The Collins Cup, I am very tempted to come out of retirement and attempt to qualify for the event myself.”

The Collins Cup is a unique new broadcast-friendly triathlon race which brings together the world’s greatest triathletes in a team competition to do battle to see who dominates the sport. Modelled on golf’s Ryder Cup, the format of USA vs. Europe vs. the Internationals will add a whole new level of competition and pure excitement to triathlon. The PTO will host the inaugural Collins Cup at the extraordinary x-bionic® sphere in Samorin, Western Slovakia on 29-30^th May 2020.

Contacts:

Jane Hansom
Marketing Director
Professional Triathletes Organisation
jane.hansom@protriathletes.org

Rachel Joyce                                                              Tim O’Donnell
Co-President                                                                     Co-President
Professional Triathletes Organisation                        Professional Triathletes Organisation
rachel.joyce@protriathletes.org                                  tim.odonnell@protriathletes.org