In late 2009, World Triathlon Corporation, (WTC), owners and operators of official Ironman events, announced a new Ironman Professional Membership Program, whereby professionals hoping to race any Ironman event, 70.3 or full-distance, had to submit a fee of $750, (renewable annually), along with an application into the program.

Certainly, WTC had seen the sizes of their professional fields grow, while the quality did not necessarily improve. Many mediocre pros were taking advantage of some of the perks the pro's were given, such as free and late registration, and home stays. To even the higher level pros, it did not seem to make much sense to cater to a number of athletes who would never truly add to the event, in terms of a competitive level. As elitist as this sounds, that level of racing is about "ELITES". By definition, this is the purpose of the distinction as a pro, to bring a competitive and high, elite-performance level to the race event.

In 2009, WTC made a decision that only certain pros meeting qualifying standards of past performances and special invitation, would receive free entry. This was a step in a positive direction, forcing athletes to earn the privileges and saving some of the special perks for deserving athletes.

But WTC's recent decisions have caused turmoil among many pros, and a moment of truth has arrived for them. They face a situation where they have been pushed into a corner, and must make a decision to stay in the corner, or to push back.

What has WTC done exactly? Here are some of the details of the new program:

1. All pros must pay $750, renewable annually, in order to compete at any official WTC event. At which point, they are no longer charged for entries for the year.

2. This cost supposedly goes toward the new drug testing program. (More on this, the details and the hypocrisy of this "drug testing" program, in an upcoming editorial).

3. All pros must finish within 5% of the winner in their gender, in order to claim a Kona slot. (More on this in an upcoming editorial)

4. All pros must finish within 8% of the winner in their gender, in order to receive any prize money.

5. Any prize money not claimed due to the 8% rule, will NOT be redistributed, but kept by WTC.

Actually, number 5 was changed last week, when the actual application of the rule happened, affecting most of the pro field at Ironman Malaysia. It created a storm among pros, coaches, media and many others within the sport. WTC quickly changed their tune, realizing not redistributing the money to the athletes who actually earned it, was not only greedy, but disrespectful to the entire field.

Now all the athletes who finish in the 8% window of the winner will receive whatever prize money is not distributed to those outside of the window, making for an even bigger payday, if they are fast enough.

WTC was smart to change the policy, because there were many rumors of the pros banding together to shut it down in the races, and have a pre-determined finish line which would allow for the pros to stay within the percentages.

The obvious mistake WTC made was that they gave no incentive for the top pros to push the pace. Instead, they only created headaches for them, because most of the field would be upset with them and possibly look for payback, if they pushed the pace unnecessarily, with no benefit for themselves to do so.

So why didn't WTC just start the rule that way? How could they miss something so obvious? Well, quite simply because the people who are making the decisions are both greedy and not aware of the realities of the sport. They never conducted any surveys or asked the pros about the new system, prior to creating it. This is also what has upset many pros.

WTC's strategy is to keep the damage and bad public relations to a manageable level. This level is defined as the point at which professionals will bitch and moan, but still show up to fill their fields and give their events the media appeal of a quality race.

The pros now face a moment of truth, and WTC's recent change of heart on the redistribution of prize money has shown they are listening, and are concerned about the damage this program could do to their fields, their media coverage, their reputation, and their bottom line.

All pros need to truly consider if this fee and this program is something they want to be a part of. The power of the pros is really untested, and this may be the test which brings about their power.

In the next few parts of this editorial, I will discuss the different aspects of the program, the positives and negatives, the alternatives, as well as how it affects the common age-grouper on the start line.

Jim Vance